Geneva rolls over Oswego
Sarah Meadows’ message to her Geneva girls during a first-quarter timeout was simple — your holiday is over.
“I just said, ‘Girls we gotta go,’” said the first-year Vikings coach. “It was what I was nervous about. We talked about it since Wednesday about coming out a little flat. And we came out flat.”
The Vikings perked up in a hurry.
Marquette-bound Ashley Santos scored 22 points in three quarters — 12 of that total in the first quarter — and No. 4 Geneva handled Oswego 61-41 Friday at the 24th Geneva Tournament.
“Everyone just got under control, and got back into doing what we do,” Santos said. “We handled things pretty well coming off a break.”
Santos, the lone returning starter off last year’s team, dominated the action early. Her 3-pointer gave Geneva (3-0) the lead for good at 12-10, she scored again and hit another trifecta for a 17-10 lead that was 19-10 by quarter’s end.
She doesn’t care how she helps the team, as long as Geneva wins.
“Meadows tells everybody to come out hard. That’s kind of what I was trying to do, is listen to what coach was saying,” Santos said. “Everyone followed suit. I think in terms of what I can do to help my team win, to get my teammates going. Whatever they need, I got it.”
Geneva’s pressure eventually caught up with, and overwhelmed Oswego (1-3).
The Vikings forced Oswego into 21 first-half turnovers. That, Meadows is pleased with. What she is wary of is her team’s overaggressiveness leading to a penchant for fouls.
Geneva put Oswego into the double-bonus by the end of the first quarter. Oswego ended up attempting 34 free throws, but fortunately for Geneva made just 18.
“Right now it’s hard for us to get into the flow,” Meadows said, “because there’s so many fouls. We have to stop fouling. Tuesday night was better but way too many. I don’t want them to be less aggressive, but they get people trapped and then they reach.”
Geneva’s lead was 40-21 by halftime, which allowed Meadows to substitute liberally after the break. The Vikings played 13 girls, 11 of them scoring.
Rachel Hinchman scored 8 points and Michaela Loebel 7.
The rest for Santos and other starters was timely, since they play twice today. The second game, against Montini, will be a rematch from last year when Montini snapped Geneva’s 57-game regular season winning streak.
That game will also pit several AAU teammates against each other, including Santos.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge and I know my teammates are too,” Santos said. “It’s going to be a good game.”