Geneva saves its best for last in win over Rochelle
Geneva was an entirely different team in the fourth quarter.
"It seemed like they got stronger in the fourth quarter," said Rochelle forward Micah McCulloch.
"I couldn't get off a shot," said Rochelle guard Seth Anderson.
In the Western Sun Conference boys basketball league opener Tuesday night in Geneva, the Vikings held Rochelle, which scored 20 of the first 29 points of the game, scoreless for six-plus minutes bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Holding the Hubs' to 4 fourth-quarter points and nary a 2-point field goal, Geneva scored the last 8 points of the game to seal a 67-57 victory.
Geneva senior guard Scott Wendt scored 11 of his career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to engineer the Vikings' fourth victory in five games.
"We knew who their shooters were," Wendt said of the Vikings' fourth-quarter defensive stand that resulted in the Hubs misfiring on 11 of 12 field-goal attempts. "We didn't really play very good defense (in the first half). We kind of gave them more pressure on the perimeter."
Anderson, the Hubs' sixth man who led four Rochelle players in double figures with 13 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give his team a 53-48 lead with 1:06 to play in the third quarter.
"I like being the sixth man," said Anderson, who hit three 3-pointers. "If I come into the game I'm going to shoot."
But it was all Geneva (4-1, 1-0) the remainder of the contest.
Wendt had consecutive field goals to start the fourth quarter, giving Geneva the lead for good at 54-53.
Rochelle (1-3, 0-1) had four straight turnovers to undermine its cause during the drought, and Dan Trimble was an imposing force in the paint after literally shooting the Vikings back into the game with a torrid second-quarter performance.
Geneva had started disastrously, missing 11 of 14 first-quarter shots in falling behind 20-9 at the first-quarter break.
"We were trying to force shots," said Wendt.
But Trimble, who finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, pumped in 11 of the Vikings' 24 second-quarter points largely courtesy of three 3-point field goals.
"It was all Connor Quinn," Trimble said of the Vikings' seventh man. "He kept finding me open."
McCulloch hit two free throws with no time remaining to give Rochelle a 34-33 lead at the break.
The teams combined to make their first 7 shots in the third quarter, exchanging jabs with impunity.
But it was Geneva that delivered the haymaker in the all-important fourth quarter.
Nolan Block found Wendt for an uncontested layup in the final seconds to conclude the Vikings' game-ending unanswered run.
Brandon Beitzel had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Geneva.
"They're a very difficult team to play," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "It's always a battle of wills. We were too perimeter oriented in the first half."