Geneva, Marmion to meet in Dayton semifinals
After watching Ridgewood connect on 10-of-23 3-point attempts in its opening round win over Eisenhower, the Geneva boys basketball team made it a point to challenge every outside shot.
The Vikings limited the Rebels to just 7-for-32 from beyond the arc while shooting a solid 56 percent from the field themselves in a 44-37 quarterfinal victory Monday night in the Chuck Dayton Holiday Classic at DeKalb.
Junior guard Matt Johnston collected a game-high 15 points while Sean Chambers added 8 for Geneva (9-2), which advanced to Tuesday's 8:15 p.m. semifinal against Marmion.
"I thought our defense tonight was just outstanding," said Geneva coach Phil Ralston. "I told our guys, if they're going to beat us, they would have to beat us by taking contested 3s. I don't think there were many uncontested shots period."
Ridgewood (5-6) took its only lead of the game at 16-14 with 5:33 left in the first half as Zac Rzewincki (14 points) completed a conventional 3-point play, followed by a 3-pointer from the wing.
Geneva responded with an 11-2 run to close out the half, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Drew Klaus and a pair of baskets inside from Johnston.
The Rebels found the range on a trio of 3-pointers to pull within 30-27, but Geneva scored the final 6 points of the third quarter.
Ridgewood trailed 36-32 with early in the fourth, when Johnston scored on consecutive drives and Dominic Navigato and Cole Navigato sealed the win with baskets in the paint.
"The 3-pointers weren't going down for us today, so we had to run a lot of pick and roll stuff. It was working so we just had to attack them at the end," Johnston said.
Geneva held a 35-21 rebounding advantage, led by 7 each from Klaus and Dominic Navigato, but Ridgewood forced the Vikings into 16 turnovers.
"I'm very impressed with the Ridgewood team. They're tough and they put a lot of ball pressure on us," Ralston said. "They made it hard for us to run sets the way that we wanted. That was a quality win."
Marmion 59, Glenbrook North 50: Senior forward Matt Fletcher tallied a career-high 21 points and grabbed 7 rebounds as the Cadets held off the hard-charging Spartans in a quarterfinal matchup.
Marmion (7-4) led by 10 at halftime before Glenbrook North (7-3) opened the third quarter with an 8-point run. The Cadets pushed the lead back to 12, but the Spartans answered again with an 11-point spurt to pull within 44-43 with 6:33 left.
If was all Marmion from there as Fletcher scored 6 points and Sam Doroff added 5 during a 12-0 run.
Hunter Weber hit a trio of 3-pointers in a 14-point performance while Jon Young pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for the Cadets, who won their fifth straight.
"We took a hit and weathered the storm," Fletcher said. "They came at us hard, but we always settled down and regrouped and went back to the stuff we knew how to do."
Sterling 66, Hampshire 55: Danny Duchaj scored 12 points while Luke Tuttle and Deion Garcia added 11 each for Hampshire (2-8) in this consolation bracket defeat.