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While Nate Navigato's offensive prowess is nothing new for Geneva, the development of junior post player Loudon Vollbrecht has given the Vikings another force in the paint.
Minimizing point-blank shots for the burly Vollbrecht and other members of Geneva's towering frontcourt will be key to Batavia's hopes of upsetting its archrival tonight in Geneva.
"You've got to keep him away from two-foot shots," Batavia coach Jim Nazos said of Vollbrecht. "If you can just push him off and make him shoot from six or seven feet, that's a big thing with their posts, where it's not a drop step at the rim but more turnaround jumpers they have to take. That's a big thing, and then obviously keeping them off the glass."
Of course, doing better defensive work on Navigato – a 6-foot-7 wing – also will be a priority. Navigato scored 30 points when the teams met Dec. 6 in a 58-40 Geneva win in Batavia.
Both Geneva (16-2, 5-1 Upstate Eight Conference River) and Batavia (13-9, 3-5 UEC River) come into tonight's matchup hot after playing well in separate Martin Luther King events – Geneva went 4-0 in Moline while Batavia went 3-1 at Rockford Jefferson.
Both shootouts included two games apiece Saturday and Monday, and the Bulldogs and Vikings also were in action Friday night. Given that busy stretch – and final exams early this week at Geneva – Vikings coach Phil Ralston said gearing up for Batavia was challenging.
"The unfortunate part is we still have our finals and only have two days [to prepare] and those two days we have to try to rest our guys because there was a lot of basketball played, but at the same time we have to kind of focus in on what Batavia is doing now," Ralston said. "They are playing a lot better [than early in the season].
"We've seen a couple looks at them. A team that beat them, West Chicago, they beat pretty soundly last Friday. We saw them take (St. Charles) North to overtime. … We know they're playing a lot better and I think the addition of (Tyler) Lovestrand makes them a better team, so we're not naive. We know that's going to be a tough, tough game."
Belt it out
Famed Chicago anthem singer Wayne Messmer is scheduled to sing the national anthem at today's Batavia-Geneva doubleheader (tip for the girls game is 5:45 p.m.).
Messmer used to sing the anthem at Blackhawks home games and now does so occasionally for the Cubs and Chicago Wolves. He is a founding partner of the Wolves' AHL hockey team as well as the investment management firm Wayne Messmer and Associates LLC, where Ken Loebel, the father of former Geneva athletes Michaela and Alexa Loebel, is a branch manager.
"To me, you just can’t beat the electric atmosphere of a great high school basketball game," Messmer said in a news release. "This is something that I truly enjoy being a part of. I am excited to start things off with a respectfully rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and set the stage for these games that are sure to be filled with plenty of emotion and excitement. I not only can’t wait to see these games, but I hope to shake hands and meet as many folks as I can while I’m there. This is going to be a fun evening for all of us.”
Save the date
Saturday night's St. Charles North upset of St. Charles East tightened the UEC River race, but Ralston said the Saints slipping for the first time in conference play was not cause to rejoice.
Either way, Ralston and the Vikings figured their Feb. 5 home game against East will be a blockbuster affair.
"Whether East lost or not, it really didn't matter – we've just got to target that date and be sure we're ready to play that day," Ralston said. "We're two very different type of teams, two very different styles of basketball. Our strengths are their deficiencies and our deficiencies are their strengths, so it's just one of those games where we just have to make sure we play to our strengths and not to our weaknesses."
East (7-1 UEC River) beat Geneva when the teams met in St. Charles. While the Saints and Vikings each have one conference loss, North (6-2 UEC River) could sneak into a three-way tie for the conference championship if the North Stars can win out – which would include a home win over Geneva on Feb. 17 – and the Vikings take the Feb. 5 showdown against the Saints.
– Jay Schwab, jschwab@shawmedia.com
IN THE GROOVE
St. Charles North's senior leadership
What the North Stars did: Program stalwarts Jack Callaghan and Jake Ludwig each capped off strong showings by nailing crucial 3-pointers in the final minute of overtime Saturday to push the North Stars to a 78-75 win against rival St. Charles East.
Evan Schuetz, Aurora Central Catholic, Jr., F
What he did: Schuetz scored 26 points to boost ACC to a 77-52 win against Corliss in Sunday's Martin Luther King Dream Classic at Whitney Young.
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM LAST WEEK
St. Charles East is mortal. The Saints had won 13 straight games since a Thanksgiving tournament loss to St. Joseph before falling in OT to North on Saturday.
The result puts all the more emphasis on the Feb. 5 East-Geneva game in Geneva, which could well determine the UEC River title as well as the top seed in the IHSA Class 4A Geneva Regional.
WHAT WE'LL LEARN IN THE WEEK AHEAD
Whether Batavia can pull off a signature win tonight as the Bulldogs take aim at host Geneva.
For those who can't make it in person, the game – along with the preceding Batavia-Geneva girls game (5:45 p.m. tip) – can be viewed at kcchronicle.com/video/batavia or kcchronicle.com/video/geneva via High School Cube.