Boys Basketball: Kyle Porter, Batavia muscle past Geneva

GENEVA – Kyle Porter was quick to deflect credit for his success to the team.

After pouring in 18 points in Batavia’s 50-30 win over Geneva on Dec. 15, Porter and the Bulldogs are rolling at 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the DuKane Conference.

“It’s not even me. It’s the whole team,” said Porter, a Batavia senior. “We’re all one unit and we’re playing well together. We’re all flowing together really well.”

It stems in part from the collective experience of a starting lineup that has Nate Nazos, Jacob Aseltine and CJ Valente leading the charge.

“I just think we have great practices. I mean, this is a team we’ve been on our whole lives. We have great team chemistry,” Porter said.

“I think (the success) has a lot to do with experience,” Nazos said. “We’ve got 14 seniors on this team and we’re all best friends. We’ve been playing together since we were in elementary school. We all just stuck with it.”

Nazos has seen Porter’s growth as a player up close.

“He’s improved tremendously from last year. It’s been great to see,” Nazos said. “I think he’s always had the talent there and he grew a lot over high school. He’s gotten used to his body and he got really athletic. He got in the weight room and everything. He’s worked in the offseason in the post. He’s got a decent shot from 10 feet and he’s worked on it. I’m happy for him.”

Batavia led 39-21 to close the third quarter and kept its foot on the gas. Porter and Geneva guard Elliott Kroeyr traded layups. The Vikings added another layup, but Porter had the answer with a layup. Geneva forward Hudson Kirby split two free throws, but Batavia forward Valente’s dunk put the exclamation point on the win with four minutes remaining.

“For the most part, I think we did some pretty good things defensively,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “They had some things they probably don’t like in there, but still overall, it was pretty good. They were feeling good going into the half. ... I think it’s a really good win against a good team at their place in a rivalry game.”

Kirby led Geneva (4-5, 0-4) with eight points and six rebounds on a slow offensive night.

“No (Jack) Hatton tonight. He got banged up in the Glenbard North game and he’s one of our leading scorers,” Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. “We didn’t shoot well. I think we were 26% at the free-throw line or something ridiculous. You’re not going to beat Batavia missing double-digit free throws or whatever it was. We’ve got to play better. I’ve got to do better.

Hennig also gave credit to Batavia.

“They’re good. They’re big. They got a lot of experience,” Hennig said. “I think Nate Nazos is a wonderful, wonderful player.”