Geneva runs away with Larkin
The Larkin boys basketball team was in the wrong place at the wrong time Saturday.
Geneva was frustrated by its poor play in its last game and dominated throughout the Upstate Eight River opener. The Vikings shot 69.2 percent and clobbered the host Royals, 65-29.
“We were kind of embarrassed by our play against Waubonsie last week. We basically took it out on Larkin today,” Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. “When you have a week off after a loss you usually are not sure what you're going to get. We had to emphasize to our kids that we had to come out strong, and we did.”
The Vikings (3-2, 1-0) suffered a 48-34 loss to Waubonsie Valley last Saturday in the third-place game of the Oswego Tournament. Geneva scored only 5 points in the first half.
Geneva had 5 points within 3 minutes against Larkin (2-3, 0-1). The Royals' Blake Grantham scored the opening basket of the game. The Vikings then went on a 9-0 run to take the lead and the Royals would not get any closer than 7 the rest of the game.
“We had a really, really good week of practice,” said Geneva senior Brad Bernhard, who finished with a career-high 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. “It was competitive. We felt like we underachieved in the Thanksgiving tournament. We wanted to get on the right track here in conference.”
The Vikings used a 12-0 run to open a 30-11 lead early in the second quarter and ended the first half on a 13-1 run to take a 50-20 lead into halftime.
“Not much went well,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “It's a losing effort on everybody the coaching staff, the players. Nobody performed at a high enough level to get the win.”
Geneva shot 27-for-39, missing only 3 shots in each quarter. Dan Trimble, who did not play in the fourth quarter, scored a game-high 16 points and had 8 rebounds for the Vikings. Dan Hince added 10 points off the bench. Eleven different players scored for Geneva, which outrebounded the Royals 33-16.
Grantham led Larkin, which shot 25 percent (10-for-40), with 8 points. Freshman Derrick Streety added 6 points in his first varsity game.