Geneva 68, Yorkville 44

It was a lesson in Basketball 101 from the Geneva boys team Friday night in Yorkville.

The importance of closing out the first half strong and beginning the third in similar fashion has been stressed since the days of Dr. Naismith.

The Vikings did just that against the Foxes in Western Sun Conference action, using a 17-4 burst to end the second quarter and a 13-4 salvo to open the third in cruising to a 68-44 victory.

Geneva is 14-7 overall, 8-2 in the league; Yorkville is winless in conference play in falling to 5-14.

"There's no doubt about it," Yorkville coach Jerry Farber said of the Vikings' game-controlling run.

"That's the first thing we talked about after the game."

"We liked how we finished that last three-minute flurry (of the second quarter)," added Geneva coach Tim Pease.

There were a combined eight ties and lead changes in the opening 11-plus minutes, but Max Cary, the Geneva senior guard who led four Vikings in double figures with a game-high 17 points, hit two at the free-throw line to give Geneva the lead for good at 16-15.

Cary had 5 steals in the game as well, and the Vikings' defense set the tone over the closing minutes of the second.

"From the Neuqua (Valley) loss (72-51 on Wednesday), the best time to play is the next day or the day after," Cary said. "We played much better defense. We were sharing the ball really well, too."

Geneva scored the final 8 points of the second quarter to take a 31-19 lead into the break, and the second half became another Vikings' clinic.

The words "nice pass" were clearly audible from the Vikings' coaching staff as Geneva took command of the game with a series of well-orchestrated fast breaks.

Cary, backcourt mate Alex Turnowchyk and frontcourt partners Chris Jordan and Jeremy D'Amico erupted out the second-half gate; the Vikings scored on their opening five possessions, and a Jordan field goal doubled the Vikings' lead to 42-21 with 4:35 to play in the third.

"Their athleticism was too tough for us," Farber said. "They beat us off the dribble with their dribble penetration."

Yorkville would stage a mini-revolt behind sophomore reserve Travis Gibson, who scored 11 of his team-high 13 points in the third.

Gibson scored in the final half-minute to bring Yorkville within a dozen, but Cary drained a free-throw line jumper at the third-quarter buzzer.

Yorkville would come no closer the rest of the way.

Jordan and D'Amico finished with 12 points for Geneva, and Christian Frederking added 10.