Geneva gets its offense going vs. Yorkville

It took exactly two-and-a-half minutes for Geneva's basketball team to establish its will Friday night.

And in the process put an end to a modest 2-game losing streak.

Scoring the game's first 11 points helped the Vikings (16-4, 7-3) burst out to a commanding 37-13 halftime advantage en route to a 65-37 Western Sun Conference triumph over visiting Yorkville (2-15, 0-9) on Hall of Fame night in Geneva.

Senior forward Rob Tauscher began the early run with a 3-pointer before senior guard/forward Jeremy D'Amico contributed 6 straight points on the way to a 10-point opening quarter.

"We needed something like that," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said of his team's fast start. "We haven't seen that in a few weeks.

"We certainly had all week to think about how we've been sputtering the last two weeks. It was nice to see the kids come out and play hard."

D'Amico, who finished with a game-high 22 points, 5 steals and 4 assists, single-handedly outscored the Foxes' entire team (17-13) in the opening half, while Tauscher tallied 12 of his 15 points during the first 16 minutes.

"For the first half, I don't know what our shooting percentage was but it had to be going on something like 70 percent," Ralston said of his team's 15-for-25 (60 percent) accuracy from the field. "Our guards were running our sets perfectly and we got good looks at the basket."

Tauscher, who took some constructive criticism from the coaching staff following last weekend's loss to Glenbard South, certainly made the most of his 'good looks at the basket,' shooting 5-for-8 from the floor with three 3-pointers.

"Last game, Coach (Ralston) told me I wasn't looking for my shot enough and that I wasn't aggressive enough," said Tauscher. "I came out today focused on playing team ball but if I got my shot I was looking to take it."

Ralston saw a different Tauscher Friday night.

"He didn't even hesitate tonight," said the coach. "He didn't think about it tonight and that was a great sign for us."

After outscoring the Foxes 11-8 in the third quarter to go up 48-21, the Vikings built their biggest lead of the night at 58-26 midway through the fourth quarter as Ralston emptied his bench.

"The score looks pretty dramatic but I think it's even more dramatic than the score reflects because of how hard our guys were going out there," said Ralston.

"I hate to say we got the monkey off our backs because normally people are saying that after they've had a few more than two losses in a row, but I think in a way we kind of did reflecting how well we ran our offense.

"If our offense was broken the last few weeks, I'm hoping that it has been fixed."

Tyler Scofield and Jack Delabar added 6 points apiece for the Vikings, who visit nonconference foe St. Charles East tonight.

"They're a good team that plays in a tough league," Ralston said of the Saints. "They're certainly significantly better than their record reflects."

Tavis Gibson led Yorkville with 9 points.