When Larkin tried to ratchet up the defense in the second half Friday, senior forward Dom Navigato and his Geneva teammates merely went to work.
After all, what’s a simple trap or press when you’re constantly trying to live up to the pressure of maintaining a perfect record?
The 6-foot-5 Navigato hit two key 3-pointers in a 9-0 run as the host Vikings pulled away during the fourth quarter for an 80-68 Upstate Eight River victory and a school-record 23rd straight win.
“They were playing really aggressive defense,” Navigato said of the Royals. “So we had to make our pass and find an open spot and make some shots. And I was fortunate enough to have them go through.”
The timely 3-pointers by Dom Navigato — and 23 points by his brother, Cole — allowed Geneva (23-0, 8-0) to deny Larkin (12-11, 3-5).
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The closest Dom Navigato came to losing focus down the stretch was when he was so open on the 3-pointers that he had too much time to think about missing.
“I was in a little bit of panic then, but calmed down and made it,” Navigato said.
Finding the wide-open player was Geneva’s theme throughout the fourth quarter. It let Dom Navigato finish with 13 points, Jack McDonald with 21 and Matt Johnston with 15.
“They were setting up the trap,” Johnston said. “We knew there was an open man and we just had to find him.”
Dom Navigato’s two 3-pointers were sandwiched around Cole Navigato’s three-point play. They occurred in a span of 51 seconds as Geneva quickly turned a 60-58 lead into a 69-58 advantage.
“The strategy any game is you want to play from ahead,” Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. “But against them, when you’re down, it’s trouble.
“So we started scrambling a little more to try to keep up the pace and make sure they didn’t hold the ball. And it’s a catch-22. You want them to shoot the shots because you want the ball back, but they were making them.”
Geneva made 56 percent (14-for-25) in the second half before a full house on hall of fame night.
Larkin received 20 points from Anthony Lynch and 15 from Kashmir Ivy, but with 6-10 Jalen Shaw sitting half the game due to foul trouble — including a technical for dunking during warm-ups — proved tough to overcome.
“We were playing fast,” Ivy said. “There’s a certain point where you play fast and smart at the same time, and we played too fast and we had turnovers and it led to points for them.”
Geneva maintained a 2 1/2-game conference lead over both St. Charles teams.
“I don’t know that we would have thought a streak like this was possible before the season,” McDonald said.
Geneva coach Phil Ralston said to simply play it cool, like in the fourth quarter.
“We told the kids, ‘Listen, we’re not worried about the record,'” Ralston said. “Right now we’re trying to worry about conference, we’re trying to worry about the best possible seed we can for the sectional.”
Twitter @genechamberlai2