Batavia 74, Geneva 68

If any observers felt that Batavia and Geneva were reeling in any way coming into Friday's Western Sun Conference showdown on the Bulldogs' homecourt, a typically intense and spirited battle between these two rivals put those thoughts to rest.

Batavia overcame a seven-point fourth quarter deficit by hitting 7 of 8 shots from the field and 10 of 11 free throws in the final frame to topple the Vikings 74-68 and put a stranglehold on first place in the conference.

Geneva employed a 3-2 zone to give Batavia problems most of the night, but Batavia center Jordan Smith found enough openings near the basket to tally a team-high 21 points and 8 rebounds.

"I was just moving behind the defense tonight and they were having a little trouble finding me or sliding over, and I just took advantage of that," Smith said.

"My teammates did a great job of finding me with the ball."

Smith's huge night was the perfect tonic for Batavia (17-5, 10-2) after falling to Glenbard South earlier in the week and swallowing the dramatic double-overtime loss to Simeon last weekend.

But Batavia coach Jim Roberts had a couple of reasons to feel confident about the dogfight with Geneva.

"I thought it started in practice this week, and I thought we had two pretty good practices leading up to this evening, and that's all you can ask kids to do," Roberts said. "I thought David (Bryant), Nick (Fruendt) and Phil (Albrecht) threw some masterful passes and I thought Jordan (Smith) did a great job of catching and finishing."

Geneva (8-4, 14-10) matched Batavia blow-for-blow to forge a 32-32 halftime tie, even though Albrecht gave the Bulldogs a major boost by tossing in a 3-point bomb from just beyond the halfcourt line as the halftime buzzer sounded.

Then the Vikings followed the inside work of Jeremy D'Amico (20 points) and slashing drives of Alex Turnowchyk (team-high 21 points) to pull ahead 50-45 at the end of three periods.

But the tide turned in Batavia's favor when Fruendt (16 points) hit two free throws and a short jump shot, and Bryant tossed in a 3-pointer. Stewart Charles became active on the boards and his baseline drive with just over four minutes left in the game gave Batavia the lead for good at 59-57.

Smith followed with a three-point play and the Bulldogs used the free-throw line down the stretch to keep the Vikings at bay.

"If you fall one step behind, they are going to knock down shots," Roberts said of Geneva. "They have been doing that all year, they get to spots on the floor very quickly and square up and they can hurt you."

Geneva coach Tim Pease felt the game had the ebb and flow of so many past contests between these two rivals.

"It is always a game of runs and it usually comes down to whoever has the last one with the biggest margin, and tonight they got that," Pease said of Batavia's fourth-quarter push.

"I am very happy with the effort we had to get where we were," Pease said. "We liked the shots that we had; we got the ball inside to Jeremy (D'Amico) consistently."

But too many Geneva shots wouldn't go down as the Vikings made 21 of 56 for 37 percent and had a half dozen shots swatted away by the Bulldogs' frontline.

The Bulldogs, who were misfiring through three quarters, helped their shooting percentage with the fourth-quarter push and finished at 26 of 57 for 45 percent.

"Jordan Smith is a load," Pease said. "He was catching that ball 17 feet away from the basket, then getting to that short corner and then the next thing you know, he's got the ball above the rim.

"He's just a terrific player, and tonight I think he was the difference maker for them."

Pease had high praise for his team.

"I love these kids and they are working very hard. We have dropped a couple of games recently, but it certainly is not because they have not put in the effort that is needed to get the W."