Boys basketball: Middle quarters push Geneva to victory over Bartlett

GENEVA – It was a second and third quarter to remember for Geneva. It was two quarters to forget for Bartlett.

Geneva outscored the Hawks 32-10 in the middle two quarters and held on for a 59-51 win in nonconference action in Geneva Tuesday night.

Holding a 13-12 lead after 8 minutes, Geneva seized control of the game in the second quarter. Connecting on 5-of-8 from the field including 3-of-4 from 3-point range the Vikings outscored Bartlett 16-4 and led 29-16 at intermission.

Sophomore Gabe Jensen, Cole Engebretson and Jack Hatton hit 3s. The Hawks (0-5) were only 1-of-10 from the field.

The Vikings (5-1) continued their dominance in the third quarter outscoring the visitors 16-6 and led 45-22 heading into the final quarter.

Elliott Kroeyer, who led the Vikes with 10 points off the bench, paced the offensive attack in the third. He led the home team with 7 points including a 3-pointer. Jensen, who had a trey in the quarter, scored 9 for the Vikings. Bartlett made only 3-of-10 from the field and committed 7 turnovers in the quarter.

Coach Scott Hennig praised Jensen.

“He was on the freshman team last season but he played with us in the summer,” said the Geneva coach. “He took good shots and has done a good job for us. We got off to a good start and shot lights out.”

Hatton (8 rebounds) and Hudson Kirby added 7 apiece for the winners.

Geneva, who committed only 8 turnovers in the first 3 quarters, connected on 7-of-12 from 3-point range for 58%.

Trailing by 23 after 3 quarters, Bartlett made a valiant comeback in the fourth quarter. The Hawks got to within 57-51 on a 3-pointer by Brandon Peltz.

Brendan Campbell led the Hawks with 13 points.

Geneva’s defense held Bartlett leading scorer Nathan Scearce without a point until he scored a 3-pointer with 7:45 left.

“We didn’t execute our game plan,” said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. “We wanted to attack the middle and settled for jacking up 3s. We kept fighting in the fourth quarter. Peltz and Campbell kept fighting. We have lost to some good teams.”