Geneva tops Elgin to tighten Upstate Eight race

The race to the top of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division just got a lot more interesting.

Geneva can be thanked for that after knocking off front-running Elgin 56-47 by withstanding intense fourth-quarter pressure Friday night to seal a critical conference victory on the Vikings' annual Hall of Fame night.

Brendan Leahy and Dan Trimble each scored 12 points, while Brad Bernhard added 9 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to avenge a lopsided loss to the Maroons earlier in the season.

Geneva (10-13, 5-3) survived a long-range barrage from Elgin guard Arie Williams, who tallied a game-high 17 points by knocking down five three-pointers.

"Elgin is a very fine team and we have a tremendous amount of respect for what they are trying to do this season," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "That goes down as one of our very best wins of the season, obviously. We had to have it."

Elgin (12-5, 5-2) made things uncomfortable for Geneva by opening a 10-4 lead after the first quarter, but Trimble came to life with 10 second-quarter points and Ryan Willing came off the bench to hit a key three-pointer from deep in the corner and completed a scintillating backdoor three-point play to lift the Vikings to a 24-18 halftime lead.

Elgin coach Mike Sitter smelled trouble when Geneva gained its confidence by going to the locker room at halftime with a lead after holding the Maroons to 6-of-19 shooting in the first half.

"The last time we played them (a 56-35 win in Elgin) we got a quick lead and fed off that quick start," Sitter said. "Tonight we let them get ahead and our body language changed, and all of the sudden we were the ones slumping our shoulders and they were playing with enthusiasm and heart."

Leahy took that enthusiasm to another level in the second half. He scored four baskets on slashing moves to the hoop, including one hustle play to open the fourth quarter when he nabbed a loose ball and laid it in for a 40-27 lead, the largest of the night for Geneva.

"My teammates are finding me when I am open, cutting to the basket," Leahy said. "Elgin came out all guns blazing at the end, and we handled it well, but we still have to work on that."

With intense defensive pressure being applied, Geneva turned over the ball eight times in the final quarter, but kept Elgin at bay and even survived an odd five-point play by the Maroons with 1:41 left in the game.

With Geneva leading 50-42 after a Bernhard tip-in, the Maroons quickly made it 50-47 when Williams splashed in a long three-pointer and Gerardo Mojica made two free throws after being pushed while setting a screen on Williams' shot.

It would be the last points the Maroons would score, as Geneva got an inside basket from Trimble after a timeout, and Dan Hince (9 points) and Leahy each canned two free throws in the final 30 seconds.

"In the fourth quarter, we didn't handle the pressure as well as we should have," Ralston said. "I thought our rebounding was stellar, and it was one of those deals where I thought our kids had their composure most of the game."

Ralston called guard Phil Lorenz the most valuable player in the game for the defense he played on physical Elgin guard Jordan Dean, holding him to 6 points.

"Our kids withstood the storm, and we've done that a few times this year and it is good to see that our kids can do that against really good teams," Ralston said.

Geneva knows it can be in the conference hunt, with games against St. Charles East and Batavia in the coming weeks.

"It was a big win for us, just huge," Willing said. "We were just trying to be strong with the ball and making good passes and taking good shots, because that's what coach Ralston has been emphasizing."

Ralston felt his team would have dug too deep of a hole in the River Division by losing to Elgin.

"We had to win this game," Ralston said. "For us to have a shot at the conference, we knew we had to knock them off here, because if we didn't, they would have to have three more losses in the league, and they are just too good of a team to be that far back from."

After St. Charles North topped St. Charles East on Friday night, it created a three-way tie at the top with Elgin, as all three teams carry 5-2 conference marks, with Geneva and Batavia (5-3) sneaking up right behind.

For the Maroons, Sitter had a word of warning about the upcoming stretch run.

"The players themselves finally decided to play in the fourth quarter and bring some energy to the court, but the things we practiced and talked about all week we just didn't do it in the first three quarters," Sitter said.

"If you only play one good quarter you're not going to win a lot of basketball games in this conference."