Geneva down but pulls it out against Batavia

On one of the most memorable nights for basketball in the Tri-Cities, both Geneva and Batavia's boys basketball teams staged comebacks nobody will soon forget.

But it was the Geneva comeback that left Batavia shaking its heads while setting off a wild celebration scene on the Vikings' home court.

Down 10 points to Batavia with six minutes left in the game, Geneva scratched away and finally overtook the Bulldogs on Max Cary's driving, pull-up, fadeaway 14-foot jumper with 25 seconds remaining.

Batavia missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 8 seconds left, then Alex Turnowchyk sealed his career night and a 73-70 Geneva victory with a layup as the final buzzer went off and a sea of Vikings students swarmed the court.

Geneva (7-2, 4-1) pulled even with Batavia (7-1, 4-1) in the Western Sun Conference while handing the Bulldogs -- ranked No. 1 by the Daily Herald and No. 10 in the state in Class 4A -- their first loss.

The Vikings also snapped a 5-game losing streak to Batavia.

"Everyone was on the court and I realized the game was over," Cary said. "It was great.

"People had us down for the count before the game. It was like that last year too. The whole week, it was, 'You guys can't beat Batavia.' It just feels good to prove people wrong."

Batavia, playing without its leading scorer Nick Fruendt, out with mono, fell behind by 17 points in the first half.

As it has done to opponents all year, Geneva burned Batavia with its transition game. The Vikings scored 9 of their 15 first-half baskets on layups to shoot just under 60 percent from the field (15 of 26).

Turnowchyk made his first 7 shots and had 17 points just 9 minutes into the game.

The senior guard led a fabulous foursome for Geneva, four players who combined for all 73 of Geneva's points. Turnowchyk led with 26 followed by Cary with 17, Chris Jordan 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Jeremy D'Amico with 14 points.

"I thought we had good play down the stretch with some specific guys stepping up and making big plays for us," Geneva coach Tim Pease said. "Jerry D'Amico got us a big basket. Chris Jordan hit a nice 12-footer. Max Cary stood up and made free throws. Alex Turnowchyk all evening long hit big shot after big shot."

Geneva needed all of that to overcome David Bryant. The Batavia junior scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in a remarkable third quarter. The Bulldogs turned a 34-17 deficit late in the second quarter into a 56-50 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Bryant connected on consecutive 3-pointers to end the third quarter from way beyond the arc, sending the Batavia section and Bulldog bench into a frenzy.

In the fourth quarter, the Vikings ran a second defender at Bryant every time he crossed half court. He wound up only taking 1 shot in the final quarter and scoring 2 points on a pair of free throws. Geneva also forced the ball out of Bryant's hands on Batavia's final possession.

"Down the stretch we got a good shot at the end it just didn't go in," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "The kids executed pretty well. Give credit to Geneva. It was kind of three games in one."

Pease was impressed with Geneva's response to a stretch that saw Batavia outscore Geneva 47-20 and take a 64-54 lead on Phil Albrecht's 3-pointer with six minutes left.

"We had to scratch and claw to get that 10-point lead erased," Pease said. "I knew these guys weren't going to quit. We were talking in our timeouts that we had worked too hard for this to happen. I have strong character kids that practice their tails off."

The Vikings forced a pair of turnovers and capitalized on a missed 1-and-1 free throw after Bryant had put Batavia ahead 70-65 with 2 free throws with 1:51 left.

"We just wanted to keep our composure, keep getting good shots," Cary said.

Cary drained two free throws with 1:14 left to bring Geneva within 70-69. Batavia turned the ball over again, setting up Cary's game-winner.

"That's a shot we've practiced for late-game situations," Pease said. "It was supposed to get all the way to the basket and somebody from Batavia did a nice job rotating over and it forced him to square up and shoot a nice little soft jumper. I'm happy for him that it went in."

And so were a thousand Geneva fans on an unforgettable night of basketball in the Tri-Cities.