Geneva downs Elgin; Maroons' Douglas reaches 1,000
It was definitely Senior Night for Geneva as the Vikings had a rollicking good time and even shared the spotlight with Elgin's Desmond Douglas.
With nine seniors on the roster, only five could start, of course, but virtually each did something to earn resounding cheers from the home side and the 62-38 triumph meant the Viking faithful applauded when the Maroons' Douglas hit consecutive free throws for career points 1,000 and 1,001. Better yet, Geneva saluted the Elgin senior with a postgame announcement and presentation of the game ball.
The visiting Maroons (17-12, 5-7 Upstate Eight River) jumped out to a 7-0 lead but Geneva used four straight 3-pointers - three by Dominic Navigato - en route to finishing the first quarter leading 14-11. The Vikings (22-6, 8-4) then opened the second quarter with another Navigato bucket and a resounding alley-oop dunk for Bennett Fuzak from a Sean Chambers assist.
Using crisp passing, Geneva worked the ball to Fuzak for a right corner baseline 3-pointer to beat the buzzer for a 25-18 halftime lead.
"Since we're a tall team, sometimes in practice we really like to dunk and we work on catching some lobs. I got a great one," Fuzak said.
He was far from alone in either category as Fuzak was one of four players accounting for seven 3-pointers and the senior co-captain cheered slam dunks by Matt Johnston, Michael Karas, and Brandon Schleicher.
"All the seniors contributed in some fashion and we did a good job sharing the ball and the spotlight," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "While we moved the ball around well, we didn't quite contest as many shots as I would have liked in the first half.
"I think it showed a lot of character on the part of our senior captains (Fuzak and Chambers) to tell me they wanted to see others get to start. I think that sparked everyone and it was good to see kids that are not always in the limelight, have the chance. Guys like Drew (Klaus), Brady (Smith), Zachary (Samples), and Ryan (Ralston), who have put in four years of hard work."
Not much worked for Elgin in the third quarter as Geneva outscored the visitors 18-4 to enter the fourth quarter with a commanding 43-22 advantage. In addition to locking up at least a share of second place in the UEC River, the win was the seventh in the last eight games giving the Vikings momentum heading into Wednesday's Class 4A St. Charles East regional where they'll face either the host Saints or Streamwood.
"It was a great win for all the seniors and everyone played well, but we're definitely not done," Chambers said.
"It means the world to go out on a high note for the regular season and our last home game," added Fuzak, who finished with 14 points to follow Navigato's 18 and 5-point showing by Schleicher.
There was 5:47 left in the game when Douglas added his name to Elgin's historic list of 1,000-point scorers en route to his team-best 14 point effort. Keshawn Baldwin added 8 for the Maroons, who now turn their focus on a Monday regional opener against host South Elgin.
"In the first half we had some good energy, but Courtese (Cooper) is still recovering from the flu and Reggie Cole is out with an ankle," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "As for Desmond, we knew he'd get it, so I guess it's no longer something he has to think about.
"One thousand points now days is like a war of attrition. You have to play a ton of games, in his case, he's probably had 300 via free throws because he has the ball down the stretch and is aggressive going to the rim," Sitter added. "Earlier this year he was a facilitator for everybody, with all our injuries, he's take more of a lead role. With him, I'm confident we'll come ready to play South Elgin."
Douglas was attempting an acrobatic drive when he was fouled. The first of 2 free throws produced an eruption from family and friends in the stands who came prepared with posters congratulating him on the 1,000th point.
"Going into this game, I didn't want to make it about myself and just wanted us to play well," Douglas said. "That was one of the hardest layups I tried to shoot; everything seemed harder to make tonight. My family have always been big supporters, but it was a nice surprise. I'm glad it happened tonight so it's behind us. We need to do a lot better job executing on offense and be more aware on defense. They nailed us with some back screens that we can't give up (versus South Elgin)."