Balance keys Geneva's win

Early in the season, it is perceptional things that sometimes make the difference in a basketball game.

In the case of Geneva, that "thing" was an increased tempo, something that took the better part of the first quarter to manifest on Tuesday against Oswego, but which only got higher and higher as the game progressed.

Geneva got better and better the deeper it got into the Oswego Hoops for Healing tournament game and eventually won the game 66-60.

"We knew that we needed a win tonight," Geneva's Alex Turnowchyk said. "We had to slow it down a little on offense and pick up the pace on the defense. That's exactly what we did in the second and third quarter."

Geneva (1-1) showed balance in its second contest of the season. Four of the Vikings starters reached double-digit scoring and the team worked the ball to seven overall scorers.

"That's kind of the way our team is going to have to work," Turnowchyk said. "We've got guys who can step it up on one night and then other guys who can do it the next night."

In two games, Geneva has played a decent Waubonsie Valley team and the tournament hosts. While no one is saying this means anything for the rest of the season, the Vikings haven't had a restful quarter of basketball yet this season.

"Coupled with (Monday) night, that's eight very fast-paced quarters," Geneva coach Tim Pease said. "That's how we need to play."

Oswego had its band and rowdy fan section out in force and the atmosphere was more like a conference game than a tournament contest two days before Thanksgiving.

"Oswego's home court -- they're tough," Turnowchyk said. "It got to us early. But in the second quarter and the third quarter, we toughed it out and it was a good win."

The biggest movement by either team came by Geneva at the start of the second half. Moving from a 30-29 deficit, the Vikings forced turnovers, found open shots and worked a pass-and-move offense to keep the Panthers off-balance.

"I think we were happy with the intensity we had," Geneva's Max Cary said. "We wanted to play fast and we did a good job of it."

At one point in the quarter, Geneva reached a 6-point lead, which was massive given the balanced nature of the contest. Turnowchyk had the strongest offensive quarter and scored 6 of his 12 points.

Cary took over in the fourth quarter and scored half his 14 points.

"We had to pick it up on the defensive end and that worked into our offense," Cary said.

Throughout the game, Jeremy D'Amico was a model of consistency for the Vikings, steadily building a 16-point total.

Chris Jordan scored 12 points and was the other Vikings scorer in double-digits.