It's Batavia-Geneva again tonight, only twice the fun

This reminds me of football season - and not just because how physical play promises to be tonight.

Two years ago, the St. Charles East-St. Charles North and Geneva-Batavia games both were played the same week of the season. The games of the year that everyone wants to see were impossible to see because of the schedule makers.

The problem has been resolved the past two years, with St. Charles bragging rights settled in Week 8 and Batavia and Geneva squaring off in Week 9.

Which brings us to tonight. What's a basketball fan to do? Go see the Geneva girls' bid for an undefeated regular season at Batavia, which has only lost 3 games itself?

Or head to Geneva to see if the Batavia boys can reverse an 11-point loss to Geneva in December, one that sent the Bulldogs into a tailspin and 1-3 record at the Elgin Holiday Tournament before they righted the ship in 2009?

The obvious answer would be to see both, but that's not possible with the 7 p.m. games going on simultaneously at each school.

"That's the way the conference set the schedule," Geneva athletic director Jim Kafer said.

Kafer said there has been thought given to changing it. A girls-boys doubleheader like St. Charles held last month for its varsity girls and boys games wouldn't work because "we'd never fit all the fans in here," Kafer said. And it's also a night to give the sophomore teams a chance to play in front of such big crowds and charged atmosphere.

So I guess the only advice I can give area fans is to pick one of the games to go watch, then pick up the Daily Herald Saturday and read all about the other one. There should be plenty to write about in both.

The Geneva girls have insisted all year they aren't worried about the unbeaten record. They have correctly focused on peaking in the postseason and how far they can go in the tournament.

That's certainly the right mindset, but you can't tell me it wouldn't be pretty special to complete an undefeated regular season. That's an accomplishment that you can take a lot of pride in and look back 10, 20, 30 years and never get tired of remembering.

It won't be easy. Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker and his team have been looking forward to another crack after losing 54-33 to Geneva the first time. A surprise loss to Sycamore kept the Bulldogs from a chance to share the Western Sun title tonight, but I'm guessing being able to deny their rival that perfect season would serve as a pretty fair consolation prize.

And if that's not enough, Geneva's all-time leading scorer Taylor Whitley needs just 22 points - not 12 as was reported here last week - to reach 2,000 in her career.

There's no undefeated records or individual milestones on the lines in the boys game. Instead, a share of the Western Sun crown could await the winner if conference-leader Glenbard South does just what Batavia and Geneva did earlier this season - lose at DeKalb tonight.

The Raiders (9-2) still have a 1-game lead in the loss column over DeKalb (7-3), Geneva (8-3) and Batavia (7-3) in what has turned out to be an entertaining race. Batavia kept Glenbard South from running away with the title with its win in Glen Ellyn last Friday.

"We made it an interesting race with the win at Glenbard," Batavia senior David Bryant said. "I had confidence we would bring it back. We've won it (conference) three years in a row and definitely want to win it. It's (Geneva) a big game, we're playing well now and we just have to keep it up."

Regardless of that outcome, the Bulldogs are a different team in 2009 than they were before the calendar turned, with an 8-1 record and 5 straight wins.

"I think we've improved a lot," junior Ricky Clopton said. "We've got our confidence going right now. We're excited to play them. If you can't get pumped up to play Geneva and you are wearing a Batavia jersey, there is something wrong with you. We're going to be jacked to play."

What's different about Batavia now from the team that lost the first game against Geneva, Clopton said, is their defense and team play. Bryant started the season looking like he had to do it all - and he did in that first loss scoring 25 of Batavia's 39 points - but now the Bulldogs are getting all kinds of contributions on both ends of the court.

"I think in the beginning of the season we had a hard time starting out games, we came out slow, we weren't making shots, we were playing a lot of one-on-one," Clopton said. "We came together as a team, we realized we weren't going to win playing one-on-one, and we're making every last minute count."

Geneva, on the other hand, is 3-5 in 2009 after a blistering 14-1 start. The Vikings could use a second win over Batavia to get back on track heading into the postseason, when the teams could end up playing a third time. Geneva drew the No. 8 seed in the Oswego East sectional and Batavia the No. 9 - two spots behind a West Aurora team the Bulldogs just beat by 11 points five days ago.

"We have not changed much this entire season," first-year Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "We do what we do and it's the job of other teams to stop what we are doing."