KARL PEARSON
GENEVA — The Geneva boys basketball team is finally playing well, but the Eagles are after more. They have been looking for a comfortable win.
They found an opponent Tuesday night that gave them such a vehicle in the Edgewood Warriors. They didn’t miss their opportunity, either, running away to a 59-41 victory with a performance of clinical precision in the non-conference game.
“We wanted to go out and get after it tonight,” senior guard Joey Streets, who hit a pair of 3-pointers and dished out four assists and added two steals, said. “We didn’t just want to beat somebody. We wanted to really beat somebody.”
“We just worked together,” junior reserve guard Jake Bowser, who scored a game-high 16 points, struck for three treys and also had four assists, said. “We’ve worked very hard. We wanted to take that out on the court. That’s probably the best we’ve ever played.”
That would be an understatement. Geneva (5-7, 2-7 in the Premier Athletic Conference) shot 62.1 percent for the game (23 of 37) and topped 70 percent in the second and third quarters and 65 percent in the first quarter. There were assists on 19 baskets passed out by six different players. The Eagles also outrebounded the much taller Warriors, 22-16.
Senior guard Tyler Erb added 14 points and nine rebounds for Geneva. Senior forward Jimmy Haines also had 11 points and two steals.
Edgewood’s best answer was 13 points and four rebounds from Sean Butler and 10 points from Derrick Coy.
Edgewood coach Kevin Andrejack could only shake his head in resignation at the beating the Warriors (6-5) took.
“They manhandled us,” he said. “They manhandled us from players 1-10.”
Even Geneva coach John Marhefka had to tip his hat to his team, although he didn’t want to go too crazy about it.
“I have to give credit to the guys,” he said with a big smile. “Tonight, they did the same things together we’ve been trying to do all season.
“I think our guys have been capable of this. I’ve seen the potential. But it was an excellent game. I’d liked to bottle this.”
Geneva started off with a 9-0 lead and had a 19-9 lead after the first quarter. Its lead grew to 20 points in the second quarter and was 33-17 at halftime.
Edgewood cut it to 42-30 midway through the third quarter, but never drew closer again.
