Boys Basketball: Geneva holds off East Aurora

Updated: December 28, 2011 3:32PM

Geneva boys basketball coach Phil Ralston has seen his players fall behind late in games this season, only to see them respond favorably.

So when East Aurora erased what had been a 17-point lead in the second quarter and took a brief lead in the third quarter of Tuesday’s first-round game at the East Aurora Holiday Tournament, Ralston wasn’t concerned.

The Vikings validated Ralston’s calm demeanor with a 59-53 win, using an 11-2 run after East Aurora took a 40-39 lead in the third to stabilize the game and hang on for the win.

“I haven’t been too worried about our guys this season,” Ralston said. “It’s not the first time this season that somebody’s taken the lead on us and we came back. It was kind of a wake-up call to our guys to go back to what was working in the first half.”

The Vikings (6-4) shot 56.5 percent from the field in the first half, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. What stood out was 12 assists on their 13 made field-goal attempts. Senior Ryan Willing dished out four of those assists as good ball movement produced a 30-13 lead with 3:13 left in the second quarter.

When Willing suffered some foul trouble, however, the Tomcats (1-10) took advantage. They cut the lead to 33-21 at the half, and then Larry Reynolds went off in the second half.

He keyed an 18-2 run that helped the Tomcats, coming off of their first win of the season last week, roar to a 40-39 lead. Reynolds scored 10 points in the quarter and then scored all 11 of East Aurora’s points in the fourth quarter. He wound up scoring a game-high 29 points.

“A couple of guys spoke up and said, ‘Hey, let’s pick it up,’” East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries said of his team’s third-quarter surge. “They’re kind of tired of losing. That leadership scored in that span. It’s about time they spoke up and showed some pride and desire. That’s been missing.”

Geneva senior Drew White scored consecutive baskets, followed by a Pat McCaffrey three-pointer, after that run to get Geneva back into the lead for good at 46-40.

Brendan Leahy paced the Vikings with 13 points and Mark Becker added 10 in the win.

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