Boys Basketball: East Aurora, Geneva both fall at East Aurora

Updated: December 29, 2011 5:12PM

Five minutes told the story, and it wasn’t pretty.

East Aurora actually held an 11-8 lead with 44.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter of Wednesday’s game with Pleasure Ridge of Louisville, Ky., on the second day of East’s Holiday Tournament. Then, the proverbial roof fell in on the host Tomcats.

They went scoreless over the next five minutes and the visiting Panthers reeled off 24 unanswered points on the way to an 83-41 decision that featured a running clock over the final four minutes.

“We played a very good team that really pressured us, and again, our inexperience showed,” said East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries, whose team fell to 1-11.

The visitors, who had 12 of their 13 players score, climb to 10-3 after forcing the hosts into 27 turnovers and 29.3 percent (12-41) shooting from the floor that included 3 of 13 from beyond the three-point arc.

Senior Roderick Thomas led the winners with 14 points. Taywan Taylor added 11.

Senior Larry Reynolds scored 14 to lead the Tomcats and was the only East player to reach double figure. DeJon Talbert added nine.

East, 0-2 in pool play of the tourney, continues today at 7:30 p.m. against defending champion Peoria Central, which is 2-0 in the tourney.

Peoria Central 55, Geneva 30

: The Vikings (7-5) wanted to slow things down against the 8-1 Vikings but didn’t shoot, rebound or take care of the ball nearly well enough to pull off the upset.

Geneva, which trailed 16-6 after one quarter and 21-11 at the break, made just 32 percent (10-31) of its shots compared to 49 percent (20-41) by the defending tourney champs. The Vikings were outrebounded 31-17 and turned the ball over 26 times to Peoria’s 20.

“This is a step for us,” said Peoria coach Dan Ruffin, whose team is 8-1. “They have to do what they have to do with the talent they have and we have to do what we have to do. I try to focus on what we’re doing.

“I wanted to bring them out of their zone and they refused. My kids weren’t smart enough to hold onto the ball and bring them out of it.

“At some point we’re gonna have to be able to hold the ball. This would have been a good time.”

Trey Kellum led the Lions with 13 points, Jerell White added 11 and Shamar Hill 10. Brendan Leahy, Mark Becker and Drew White all had six points each for the Vikings.

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