Geneva cruises again, plays tonight for tourney title

Geneva continues to make amends at the site of its lone loss this winter.

The Vikings' boys basketball team tested defeat at DeKalb in a Western Sun Conference game earlier this season, only to continue its sound play at the 81st annual Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament with style.

Despite going scoreless for four-plus minutes to close out the first half, Geneva regained its offensive cohesion against Rockford Jefferson and breezed down the stretch for a 69-50 victory Friday.

With its 12th win in 13 outings, Geneva advanced to the championship game against Chicago Vocational, which also is 4-0 in the tournament, tonight at 8:30. Rockford Jefferson fell to 10-2.

Jeremy D'Amico once again displayed his all-around talent, registering game-highs of 28 points and 10 rebounds to pace the latest Vikings' conquest. But power forward Rob Tauscher was equally effective for Geneva.

D'Amico scored 16 of his total in the opening half, which ended with the Vikings nursing a 28-23 lead after the squad failed to score in the last four minutes and nine seconds.

"We had a little rough patch at the end of the first half," Tauscher said. "(Our intensity) got us back into the game."

Jordan Kerlay opened the second half with a 3-pointer for the J-Hawks, trimming the Vikings' lead to 28-26. It was as close as Rockford Jefferson would come the rest of the game. Tauscher immediately answered with a bomb from beyond the arc, and D'Amico had back-to-back inside scores to spearhead the Vikings' resolute play.

"We were able to control the game, by and large," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "As far as having composure, we have played a lot of tight games against good teams. (The victory) was due to execution."

Michael Ratay had a 3-point play late in the third to increase the Vikings' cushion, and Tauscher followed a D'Amico 3-pointer with one of his own early in the fourth quarter to counter the J-Hawks' five second-half 3-pointers.

Tauscher had 12 of his 16 points after the intermission, and Geneva closed out the game on a 16-2 blitz to discolor an otherwise competitive game.

"We made our free throws down the stretch, which was key," D'Amico said. "They were definitely an athletic team. You had to go with ball fakes, get them up in the air and go for the 'and one (3-point play).'"

"Geneva shot the ball very well," Jefferson coach Todd Brannon added. "Defensively, their help side was very good."