All the numbers add up again for Vikings
As if us sports writer types need any help getting confused (we do a pretty good job of that on our own), Geneva takes the court Friday night at Batavia with its jersey numbers not matching what we've seen all year.
Turns out the Vikings are playing their second game in throwback jerseys from Tim Pease's final year as coach, and since they are now 2-0 in them you can get used to Brandon Beitzel as No. 23 instead of No. 5 for a few more games.
"Now the kids are superstitious, think they have to keep wearing them," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "Guess we'll wear them until they lose."
In honor of Geneva's throwback numbers, here's a look back at Batavia-Geneva Round One by the numbers.
1: Friday marked the first Bulldog-Viking game I took my 5-year-old son to. (Trust me, I'm trying to get him hooked on the electric atmosphere between these rivals and what a terrific experience high school sports are in this area, not get him hooked on journalism.)
It worked! The entire way home he talked about the Geneva band, the Batavia warmup pants, and the 3-on-3 basketball game he got to play with a few other kids after nearly everyone had cleared out.
The game itself? Favorite play? That would be Adam LeTourneau's behind-the-back move for a first-half layup. Favorite moment? That might be seeing Kaneland center Dave Dudzinski take his seat in the crowd, who my son had just watched score 29 points in a game a couple nights earlier. "There's No. 55!" he said.
Pretty good memory!
2: Number of turnovers Geneva had in the second half despite Batavia turning to full court pressure trying to get back in the game.
Nolan Block was the catalyst, with Will Doeckel, Dan Trimble, Michael Santacaterina, Alex Frederking and Scott Wendt also making good decisions with the basketball.
"What I like is Batavia did some trapping and our kids didn't make mistakes against that," Ralston said. "Our kids did a good job of holding the ball, making good passes, making good cuts. (We) missed a couple easy ones but by and large we were doing what we wanted to do to control the game."
3-0: Ralston's regular season record against Batavia, though the Bulldogs did hand the Vikings a 25-point loss in last year's regional semifinals.
Three minutes, 58 seconds: Stretch Batavia went without a point to end a 4-point second quarter, giving the Vikings a lead they never relinquished.
"First half give credit to Geneva, they were forcing us to go sideline to sideline," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "We didn't adjust to that."
3-1: Coupled with Glenbard South's surprising 67-66 win at DeKalb Friday, the Vikings are now tied with the Barbs and Kaneland with 3-1 Western Sun records. Batavia (2-2) is just a game back in what promises to be another race that comes down to the wire.
4: Three-pointers in the third quarter from Block and Trimble, helping Geneva push a 4-point halftime lead to 14 going into the fourth quarter.
"(The) 3-point shot becomes an easy shot when you are wide open and it is a rhythm shot and momentum is going your way," Ralston said. "That basket gets a whole lot bigger."
10: Number of missed free throws in 19 attempts for Batavia, including 4 of 12 shooting through the first three quarters.
"We've got to get better at it and we will," Roberts said.
23: Points by Batavia senior Ricky Clopton in perhaps his best performance in his three years as a Bulldog starter. Not just with scoring but several times in the second half Clopton drew a double team and found teammates wide open. He also contributed on the defensive end with 8 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.
Nineteen of Clopton's points came in the second half. Now the Bulldogs just need to put 32 minutes together, starting Monday against Rolling Meadows at the Elgin Holiday Tournament.
"We did not play hard at the beginning at all and it showed," Clopton said. "They jumped out to that big lead. We just kept battling and I'm really proud of the guys. We'll get over the hump next time."
25: Points Geneva scored in the third quarter to give itself the cushion it needed to withstand Batavia's fourth quarter comeback.
"We were patient, we went through our offense, we did what coach told us to do, it all worked it," senior Brandon Beitzel said. "We came out with a different intensity, we came out as a different team, we all came together. We cut down on our mistakes and played tough defense."
38.5: Points Batavia averaged in those two losses to Geneva last year, and with 15 at halftime Friday the Bulldogs were on pace not even to match that before coming alive in the second half.
No doubt about it Geneva can frustrate teams trying to get into an offensive flow.
"We had some turnovers at critical spots on floor," Roberts said of the second quarter. "Tough to score when you don't put the ball at the goal."
61: Days until we get to do this all again.
jlemon@dailyherald.com