Effort there, but Geneva drops another close game to Oswego East

Given the chance, Phil Ralston would have made his case Thursday night for utilizing instant replay in high school basketball games at least in the game's final minute.

The Geneva coach looked closely at the images on his hand-held video camera in the aftermath of the Vikings' 47-45 loss to Oswego East in the third-place contest of the East Aurora Holiday Tournament. And he wasn't particularly happy with what he saw.

With Geneva trailing 47-45 in the waning seconds, guard Will Doeckel drove toward the top of the key and was fouled as he prepared to launch a shot with 1.7 seconds left. The Vikings' guard appeared behind the three-point arc, but he was allowed only two free throws.

After he missed the first free throw, Doeckel was forced to try to miss the second. He lofted a high-arching shot, hoping for a high-rebound opportunity, but the ball swished through the net. The referees waved it off anyway, saying Geneva committed a lane violation.

Geneva had one final chance when Dan Trimble deflected the inbounds pass, Doeckel grabbed it and heaved a half-court shot that banged off the backboard at the buzzer.

"I'm looking at the videotape pretty closely and I don't know how he (Doeckel) doesn't get three shots," Ralston said. "It's hard to be completely conclusive but it looks like both feet are behind the three-point line on that videotape, and we were pretty much right on top of it (from the Geneva bench).

"But the referees were emphatic that it was only two shots, not three, and that might have made the difference right there," Ralston added. "That's the outcome of the game possibly, but at the same time, we had a player open under the basket all alone just before that and (guard) Phil (Lorenz) didn't see him.

"So we can't sugarcoat this. There is no silver lining to this, we just didn't get it done tonight."

The loss was the third in the tournament for Geneva (6-10) and the second close setback to Oswego East this season.

But the Vikings started the game aggressively on defense and were comfortable on offense, hitting 7 of 12 shots in the first quarter to open a 16-9 lead.

Geneva stayed ahead until late in the first half when a string of five turnovers in the final two minutes allowed the Wolves to tie the game at 27-27 at halftime. It set the stage for a tight second half that would feature eight lead changes and five ties.

Trimble led Geneva with 14 points and 14 rebounds, but he was matched by Oswego East guard Wesley Brooks with 14 points.

When Trimble drove inside for a score to open the fourth quarter, Geneva enjoyed a 39-34 lead, but Brooks tossed in two free throws and Sean Gant converted a three-point play on a power drive to tie the score.

It was Trimble again at the 3:52 mark with a layup to give Geneva its final lead at 43-41, and his offensive rebound basket with 1:30 left tied the game at 45-45.

But seconds later, Jermaine Campbell pulled down the biggest offensive rebound of the night and put it back in for the 47-45 lead.

Doeckel drove baseline, but his layup attempt was too hard, and Oswego East gained control. The Vikings' final chance with Doeckel at the line came after Wolves' guard Thomas Wilder missed two free throws with 20 seconds left.

"I think we came out really hard to start the game, and they just ramped up the pressure and we stepped back a little bit from how we started," said Geneva forward Brendan Leahy, who had 6 points and a team-high 4 assists in the game.

While disappointed in the loss, Ralston is hoping is team will move forward with the same intensity.

"Our effort was significantly better than it has been, but there is no silver lining to the loss," Ralston said. "But I can live with the effort. If we had played the whole season like this consistently, I guarantee you we are much better than a 6-10 team. But the deal is that you've got to battle every single night."

Oswego East (7-5) had an edge at the free-throw line in sinking 15 compared to Geneva's 9, but the Wolves also missed 14.

"The one thing I would like to see us improve is our free-throw shooting," said Oswego East coach Jason Buckley. "We started the season shooting about 75 percent as a team, but the last couple of weeks we have really gone in the tank."

However, Buckley was happy with his team's defensive pressure.

"Regardless of whether Doeckel's last shot had gone in, I felt really good about the way we played and competed, our defensive intensity was fantastic," Buckley said. "I know Geneva likes to slow things down, but we still had to defend them and we forced some difficult shots, and held them to 45 points."