Geneva holds off Larkin’s comeback
After opening a 26-8 halftime lead, it appeared host Geneva may only need to dial in its final score Thursday night in an Upstate Eight River Division contest against Larkin.
The Royals had other ideas by running off 13 straight points to open the second half. But Geneva forward Brad Bernhard picked a good night to post a season-high 16 points and picked the fourth quarter to tally 9 of those points and help the Vikings seal a 44-33 victory.
On a night when Geneva (9-13, 4-3) welcomed scoring star Dan Trimble back to the lineup after missing three contests with a concussion, the Vikings had to do without guard Will Doeckel, who was sidelined with an illness.
A sluggish opening quarter had an uplifting finish for Geneva as Trimble (10 points) hit 2 3-pointers, the second one coming at the buzzer from well beyond 30 feet, to give the Vikings an 11-6 lead.
It sent the Vikings cruising through a second quarter in which they outscored the Royals 15-2, with guard Ryan Willing notching 7 of his 9 points in the game.
“It was kind of a strange one tonight, trying to get Trimble back in the mix, and then Doeckel was out sick,” said Bernhard, who added five rebounds to his game-high point total. “We kind of had to throw it together right before the game and we had a great first half and then let it get away.”
Geneva coach Phil Ralston’s postgame feelings were similar to his team’s performance. He was happy with the defensive effort, unhappy with the offensive execution.
“By and large our defense was pretty solid tonight,” Ralston said. “When you hold a team to 8 points in a half, you are doing a lot of things right, but overall I wasn’t very happy with how we ran our offense in the second half.
“We were a little too passive and didn’t attack them,” Ralston added. “We played on our heels too much, but it was nice to see us get it back to a larger lead in the fourth quarter.”
Bernhard made sure that happened, after Geneva got a boost from Ben Rogers, who banked in long 3-pointer near the end of the third quarter to halt a Larkin rally and give the Vikings a 31-23 lead entering the final frame.
Bernhard opened the fourth quarter with a driving layup, then added three free throws and an offensive rebound basket after Phil Lorenz missed a free throw. Bernhard finished off his dominant fourth quarter with a driving layup through traffic that one would expect of a Derrick Rose.
“It wasn’t by design, believe me,” Bernhard said of his aggressive layup that lifted his team to a comfortable 42-23 margin.
Larkin coach Deryn Carter said it was “inspiring” to watch his team finally apply intense defensive pressure to start the second half.
“But we’re inconsistent,” Carter added. “Hopefully we can build on that and play an entire game like that.”
Carter said that Geneva’s defense was a problem for his team all night. Larkin (4-15, 0-6) hit only 12 of 41 shots and committed 19 turnovers.
“It would be easy to say our problems were just poor shooting, but Geneva has a lot to do with that,” Carter said. “They run multiple defenses and use their defenses to accentuate their strengths.
“We may get by one or two defenders, but there is someone waiting back there and they are solid and making it hard for us to finish.”
Royals center Blake Grantham turned in a solid game, finishing with a team-high 10 points and 9 rebounds, while Ian Fluhler chipped in 8 points. Larkin enjoyed a 30-25 rebounding edge, with Brendan Leahy leading Geneva with 8 rebounds.