Easing into a milestone

100th career win merely a bonus for Vikings coach

GENEVA -- If Gina Nolan's next 100 victories are this easy, the Geneva girls basketball coach might consider coaching from a lounge chair.

Nolan picked up her 100th victory at Geneva on Saturday night as her undefeated Vikings (15-0) danced all over Batavia, 54-33.

"It's great, it's exciting," Nolan said of the milestone. "But the fact that we won a conference (Western Sun) game (and) beat Batavia takes precedent over anything else."

Geneva, 5-0 in the WSC, did it by jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead then using its pressure defense to bury the Bulldogs.

Junior Lauren Wicinski took advantage of her 6-foot-1-inch height, not to mention outstanding entry passes from Taylor Whitley and Kelsey Augustine, to score Geneva's first two baskets on easy layups.

The Bulldogs, who shot a frosty 22 percent (11-of-50) from the field, went immediately into panic mode.

"We had good practices, we practiced shooting all week," Batavia coach Tim Debruycker said. "I just think something just got into the girls' heads."

That something was probably Geneva's defense. The Vikings shut off the inside with Wicinski, the 6-0 Augustine and 5-10 junior Sam Dudman, and their quickness on trapping out front forced the Bulldogs to take quick shots.

"We had many open looks; they couldn't make the big shots," Debruycker said. "It was a little lack of confidence. We missed a lot of open shots -- period."

Except for reserve Liz Barnes, who was 2-of-2 (both 3s) off the bench, no Bulldog had a hot hand. Senior Natalie Tarter led the Bulldogs (9-2, 3-1) with 11 points but made only two field goals.

So flustered were the Bulldogs that a good number of their shots never touched the rim.

"My best guess is that the girls thought the defense was coming quicker than it was," Debruycker said.

Geneva had no such trouble. Whitley led the Vikings with 23 points, but Wicinski added 14 to go with 11 rebounds and Dudman chipped in with 10 points and 12 boards off the bench.

It was a total team victory and it came after a 10-day layoff.

"We had a really good practice (Friday)," Nolan said. "We practiced later, no one else was around, and we got a lot done. I felt good after. We've been playing real good defense, (and) defense has really been dictating our offense this year."

Of course, Batavia also was coming off a lengthy break. The Bulldogs hadn't played for two weeks since losing to Rosary in the championship game of the Oswego Tournament.

"We had four days of practice this week," Debruycker said. "I don't think it was the layoff, it was a case of confidence in making the big shot and we didn't rebound the ball well. If we can do just one of those two things well, we'd be fine."

If, in this case, was much more than a two-letter word. Girls Basketball: Geneva 54, Batavia 33