Chicago Vocational's hot shooting too much for Geneva
Yes, Virginia, there was a basketball game played at DeKalb High School on Saturday night despite a foot of snow being dumped on the area.
And there could have been a foot of snow inside the gymnasium and it would have melted quickly because of the blazing hot hand of Robert Hurd.
Chicago Vocational's sophomore guard went off in the second half against Geneva in the third-place contest of the Chuck Dayton Holiday Tournament, busting open a game that was tied midway through the third quarter and leading the Cavaliers to a convincing 72-45 victory.
Hurd shelled Geneva with six three-pointers and tallied 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half. He was aided by teammate Rayshaun McGrew, who used his 6-5 frame and long arms to score 19 points in the lane and corral 11 rebounds.
"We scouted them and thought we had two really good looks at them, but I guess you can chalk it up to bad scouting or something because that kid (Hurd) was unconscious and we didn't see that from him in the other games," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said after watching Hurd score 11 of his points in the final minutes of the third quarter in breaking a 34-34 tie and vaulting the Cavaliers to a 49-36 lead entering the final frame.
"Our concern was on Hollis Hill (Vocational's other stellar guard) and he still had a good game, but most of his 10 points came late," Ralston added. "Hurd just had a tremendous game, but I guess anyone can have a tremendous game when you don't do a very good job of contesting the shot."
Chicago Vocational wasn't doing a very good job of contesting the shot of Geneva's Nolan Block, who led the Vikings with 14 points. Block went on a tear of his own in the first half, pouring in 10 straight points late in the second quarter to bring Geneva within 24-21 at halftime.
"Someone had to step up because we were down double digits (24-11)," Block said. "We weren't shooting the ball real well, so I just got the ball in my hands and made some plays."
One of Block's second-half plays, a steal and layup that produced the tie midway through the third quarter, was Geneva's last hurrah. Chicago Vocational rattled off a 20-4 run and eventually outscored the Vikings 38-11 in finishing off the game.
"We have the potential to do that from time to time," CVS coach Chris Pickett said of Hurd's outburst and his team's strong finish. "We have some guys who are capable of getting hot like that.
"We have told the kids that if teams are going to focus on Hollis like that, we need some other players to step up."
Hurd, who was 0-for-5 from the field in the Cavaliers' previous game when Geneva coaches were watching closely, echoed the thoughts of his coach in saying he has to take advantage when other teams choose to shadow Hill.
"It opened up the opportunity for me to shoot the three," Hurd said. "I have been working on that a lot."
Geneva (10-4) also had trouble contending with the taller Cavaliers on the boards, as Chicago Vocational (13-3) enjoyed a 28-13 rebounding edge.
"We were disappointed in that (the rebounding), but CVS is a tremendous team and I don't want to take anything away from them," Ralston said. "We finished 3-2 in the tournament and wish we could have done better."
Neither team was able to ignite a parade to the free-throw line, as Geneva made only 1-of-3, while CVS managed to sink all four of its attempts.
Two other Vikings scored in double figures as Will Doeckel scored 11 points and Brandon Beitzel tallied 10.
Another positive note for Geneva was the return to action of guard Michael Santacaterina, who had suffered a twisted ankle earlier in the tournament but missed only one game.