Kirby, Geneva battle past Batavia
Hudson Kirby is willing to take a beating as long as Geneva can beat its local rival.
The Vikings 6-foot-5 junior held his own on the road against Batavia, scoring 17 points and fighting for 10 rebounds to lead the Vikings to a 45-36 win.
“I knew they were trying to push me around a lot,” Kirby said. “They’ve got so many football guys, so many big guys, who were physical. So I knew if we had a chance in this game it would be physical and I’d go for everything and use all my strength.”
Kirby’s willing to battle for his fellow Vikings.
“He’s been outstanding all year.,” Vikings coach Scott Hennig. “The bad part for me is his best basketball is in four years. He’s just scratching the surface. He’s getting stronger, he works on his game, he’s an excellent kid, he’s a great kid to coach. They’re all great kids.”
And what a great night for Kirby.
“It just feels so good getting a win back here,” he said. “We were just thinking about this game for the longest time.”
Geneva (12-12, 4-7) had dropped three straight games and dropped a 50-30 game to the Bulldogs on Dec. 15.
“I think when it’s Batavia-Geneva you kind of throw records out,” Hennig said. “(Batavia coach Jim Nazos has) got a heck of a team over there, but I think every time, I don’t care if it’s basketball or any sport, there’s that natural rivalry where kids are going to compete, and what you’ve done the last couple months or last couple weeks doesn’t matter for two hours and I think that’s kind of what happened.”
Batavia (16-8, 8-3) had won three of its last four games.
“Geneva played really well, hats off to them,” Nazos said. “They did a lot of good things after the first quarter. They hit some big shots. I thought they did what they wanted to do defensively well and we’ve got to use it as a learning experience and kind of learn from it and try to make ourselves a little bit better for the next time. Geneva gets a lot of credit in this.”
The Bulldogs had taken a 23-13 lead with 4:11 remaining in the first half after senior Gavin Engelhardt buried a 3-pointer.
The Vikings responded with a 5-0 run before senior CJ Valente’s last-second heave in the lane allowed Batavia to cool them off a bit and take a 25-18 lead at the break.
A nifty move from sophomore Gabe Jensen (10 points) allowed the Vikings to tie the game at 27-27 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
“I thought the start of the third quarter was important,” Hennig said. “I think we started on an 8-2 run. I know we had the first five points. And we talked all week about how it’s possession by possession. We knew it was going to be a grind of a game, a physical game, a tough game to officiate. So I’m proud of my kids, their resiliency, and just sticking to the game plan and doing the stuff that the coaching staff asks.”
Batavia senior Nate Nazos (11 points) drilled a 3-pointer to end the third quarter and give the Bulldogs a 32-28 lead.
Valente’s basket extended the lead to 34-28 but the Vikings responded with a 9-0 run.
After snagging his ninth rebound on the defensive end, Kirby trailed a break the other way, getting fouled while getting to the basket and turning it into a three-point play with 5:11 left for a 36-34 lead.
Geneva led the rest of the way.
“This league is as good as any,” Hennig said. “We’ve played some really challenging noncons and our kids are ready for these games. There are no easy nights in this league. Anybody can beat anyone and everyone has got good players. It’s just who shows up and the ball bounces your way and whatnot.”
Junior Jack Hatton had 13 points for the Vikings and was part of a stellar defensive effort.
Sophomore Dane Turner didn’t score for the Vikings but his defense kept Batavia from doing so. His steal in the final minute resulted in a pair of free throws from Jensen and a 43-36 lead with 44 seconds left.
“Some people could say he’s young as a sophomore but (Jack) Hatton and (Hudson) Kirby were on varsity last year. Dane is a kid who is a varsity athlete who played football. Defensively he played outstanding. He’s been outstanding all year. He has active hands and nice length and he gives us some added height for rebounds. He’s another great kid.”
In the second half, the Vikings limited Batavia to just a layup, 3-pointer and pair of free throws from Nazos, a second-chance opportunity from senior Jacob Aseltine and a basket from Valente.
“I thought defensively we did some really nice things,” Hennig said. “We made some of their kids take some tough shots. I thought we did a good job on Jax (Abalos).”
Abalos scored all 10 of his points in the first half.
“There are some things (that didn’t help us),” Jim Nazos said. “The ball didn’t fall for us was part of it. I thought we committed some bad fouls. We had them at the line a lot. We were late many times. There were a lot of little things but it was things that Geneva induced.”