Basketball: Geneva boys, Batavia girls make rivalry night a split decision

Geneva knew that it wanted to get out quickly in its rivalry matchup against Batavia.

And with the Vikings only leading by four points with the clock winding down in the first quarter, they needed just a single catalyst to give them the energy they needed to carry them for the rest of the way.

A 3-pointer at the buzzer from sophomore Ben Peterson just happened to do the job.

Geneva rode that energy into the second quarter, outscoring Batavia 17-2 to help lead them to a commanding 62-37 victory to remain undefeated on the season.

“They were just able to execute the game plan,” Vikings coach Scott Henning said. “Anytime you come to Batavia, it’s a tough environment, but we just kept with our game plan. We were getting to the rim, attacking the basket, and even hit some timely shots. And I thought it was great.”

Geneva (9-0, 4-0 DuKane Conference) was led in the second quarter by the guard/forward duo of junior Gabe Jensen and senior Hudson Kirby. Kirby had 12 of his game-high 18 points come in the first half, and capped off a run of 15 consecutive points from the Vikings in the half with a commanding dunk.

“We just had a ton more energy in the game and the bench brought good depth that helped us get it done,” Kirby said.

Jensen also had a couple statement moments in the quarter with his passing and shooting. Along with getting the assist on Kirby’s dunk, the junior hit a deep 3-pointer right in front of Batavia’s student section midway through the team’s scoring run.

“I have a lot of confidence shooting deep 3s like that,” Jensen said. “I feel like I shoot more deep 3s than I do right on the line, and I trust that every time that I shoot, it’s going to go in.”

Jensen finished the night with nine points, four assists and three steals. Along with those two, senior guard Jack Hatton added 13 points, with 11 coming in the third quarter, while junior Dane Turner added nine points.

Batavia (5-4, 2-2) struggled to get anything going in the first half, with junior Xavier Justice being the only player to make two baskets. Junior Joe Reid’s 3-pointer was the only other basket made in the half.

“We only got one look at the rim while they usually got multiple tries and that just put us behind, and everything just kind of snowballed after that,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “But we’ve got to take it and know they’re a good team. We’ve got to understand what happened, get back in, fix some things so we’re ready to play them again.”

The Bulldogs did manage to make shots fall in the third quarter, making seven straight baskets. Senior Jax Abalos finished with 12 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Justice finished with 10.

“If we can figure things out for next time we play them and understand some of the things we did to create those opportunities, than it’s a step in the right direction,” Nazos said.

Girls game

Batavia senior guard Kaidyn King is a big fan of making an extra pass.

It’s a part of her mindset on the court to contribute no matter how she’s doing in the shooting department.

And in a rivalry game against Geneva, she knew what she had to do to help her team to a victory.

And it worked.

King finished the night with a team-high 14 points and seven assists to help lead the Bulldogs to a 54-45 over the Vikings on Friday night.

“I just gave it my all, and all of our other players gave their all as well,” King said. “We’ve worked all week for this, and we prepared for all of what they had to give us and then we just outworked them.”

Batavia (8-2, 4-0 DuKane Conference) struggled with fouls in the first half, committing 11 while the Vikings didn’t pick up a single foul. The foul trouble was one of the big reasons why the Bulldogs only led 20-17 at the half.

“When you put people on the line, especially from a good team like Geneva, it just takes away the tempo that we want and gives them free points,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. “We were just giving things away. But once our defenders stopped fouling, it was so much better.”

But once the defense loosened up a bit, the Bulldogs managed to pull away thanks to some of the offensive looks King made both shooting and on passes to players like senior forward Hallie King (14 points) and senior guard Natalie Warren (10 points).

“Coach Jensen does a great job giving us our sets, and when we run them right, we can get great looks,” King said. “Our girls are so good at reading and reacting to each play that the defender gives us, and then it’s just easy.”

After finishing the first half only down by three points, Geneva (3-7, 2-2) could not get its offense to keep up with the Bulldogs in the second. Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said after getting multiple trips to the charity stripe in the first half, the Vikings' inability to do so in the second half just dropped their momentum.

“It was really just two different halves for us, and our free throws kept us in the game in the first half, and Batavia adjusted well in the second half,” Meadows said. “I just wish we could have had a bit more momentum on offense.”

One Viking player who didn’t lose momentum in the second half was senior forward Bridget Hecker, who scored nine of her game-high 16 points in the second half.

“Bridget has played amazing for us all year, and we’re relying on her for sure,” Meadows said. “She steps up for us every game and I’m really proud of her.”