Geneva needed a quarter to shovel the snow off the rim against CVC Lake foe Madison on Jan. 10. The Eagles had just one player record a field goal in the opening frame. They had a second-quarter run that cut the lead to four, but the Blue Streaks pushed it back to seven by the start of the fourth. But Geneva battled back again. Geneva took its first lead with four minutes left and matched Madison shot-for-shot, and late free throws by Bryce Peet gave the Eagles a 54-51 victory. They move to 6-3 on the season and 4-1 in the conference, pulling even with Jefferson. Madison fell to 6-5. Early on, Geneva needed a chance to find the rhythm from the field and confidence in its shot. Caden Proy made a pair of shots for the team’s lone field goals in the opening frame. Despite the offensive challenges, Coach John Barbo was confident in his team. He knew other players would step up. “What we knew we had to do was get inside out,” Barbo said. “So we really had to get our post touches and either score from them or be able to kick it to an open shot. But ultimately we just had to settle down. We couldn’t catch the ball, we couldn’t pass and we missed a lot of bunnies. We were still in the game, and that’s what I told the guys.” Madison’s strength is on the defensive end and disrupting passing lanes and getting hands in the paint. The Blue Streaks are able to muck it up with whoever they go against. That, coupled with early big shots from Brenden Titman and Mac Steel, pushed the lead into the Blue Streaks’ favor. They were up by 11 with under two minutes left. But that’s when Geneva made their push. A 9-2 run to close the second quarter made it 28-24 at the half. “We passed and were able to find the open guy,” Proy said. “We came off slow and playing a little selfish. So we needed to find the open guy.” The game was back and forth in the third quarter, but Geneva was never able to overcome the deficit. Then the Eagles started a run to open the fourth. Hayden Diemer took advantage of a third look on an offensive possession to start it, and a Nate Csiszar layup gave the Eagles the lead with less than four minutes left. One of the big factors in Geneva’s comeback was its ball control. The Eagles had four second-half turnovers compared to eight in the first. “We were able to pick it up on our own defensive end,” Diemer said. “They’re a good team and made it hard to find our own shot. That led to some confidence and ability to get things going.” The sides traded some buckets late, but Madison was never able to take control back. Bryce Peet drew a foul with 7.3 seconds left and went to the line. Going into the free throws, he was 1-for-5 from the stripe. But Barbo and the players were confident in each other regardless of the situation. Peet made both free throws. “It gives other kids opportunities,” Barbo said. “We have the utmost confidence in guys like Nate and Bryce. When you get an opportunity like that, they took advantage of that. These guys have a lot of confidence.” Proy led the way with a game-high 18 points, while Andrew Oros had 12 points and eight rebounds. Diemer had seven. Madison was able to hang tough with Geneva, and Coach Nick Gustin is confident in his team. Rather than having just one player who can beat you on offense, they are able to play deep into the bench. The Blue Streaks had big showings from Dakotah Aufdenberg with seven points and six rebounds, while Parker Williams had five points and six boards. “In those first three, we were really good defensively,” Gustin said. “They got stagnant and we were able to push the ball a little bit and had pace. We have to find ways to score. We talk about sharing the basketball, passing it and when we do that, we’re hard to defend. At times we could do that tonight.” Madison was led by Steel with 15 points, and Titman added 13. Geneva had its fourth of five straight on the road at NDCL on Jan. 14. Madison looks to snap a three-game skid with a CVC clash on the road against Harvey on the same day. THE SCORE Geneva 54, Madison 51