Senior guard Jack Hatton went into Tuesday night with a specific game plan for Geneva.
And he wasn’t going to hold back, either.
“Coming into the game I was like, ‘I’m going to keep shooting because I’m a shooter,’” said Hatton, who had a rough night Monday against Wheaton St. Francis. “They started going in. It was nice.
“I hit the first one and then I hit the second. I was like, ‘OK, I’m kind of feeling myself a little bit.’”
Indeed, Hatton hit three 3-pointers in the first couple minutes Tuesday night, setting the tone for the visiting Vikings in a dominant 64-31 nonconference victory over Bartlett.
Hatton scored a game-high 15 points for Geneva (5-0), all coming during the first half. Senior guard Cole Engebretson and senior forward Hudson Kirby added eight points apiece.
Freddy Palacios, Gio Scivittaro and Colin Taylor each scored six points for Bartlett (0-4).
Hatton, entering his third varsity season, battled through a slow start last winter for the Vikings. That has changed with experience, and they’re reaping the benefits.
“He’s been great,” Geneva coach Scott Hennig said of Hatton. “I love his attitude. He’s a captain, a three-year varsity kid. He’s coming off a sectional championship on the soccer team.
“He hit the ground running. He knows this is his last year of Geneva basketball and he’s enjoying it. I’m proud of him.”
Helping Hatton is his longtime friend Kirby, a Wisconsin-Platteville recruit who handles the job in the post for the Vikings.
With the attention Kirby receives down low, outside shooters like Hatton are the beneficiaries. It hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“It’s amazing to have him down there because he can rebound, he can score,” Hatton said. “With him down there, it draws more than one set of eyes. It just opens up all the shooters.
“We’ve been friends since elementary school and we’ve been playing basketball together since then. The chemistry has always been there.”
Hennig knows when the Vikings rely on Kirby, who’s also in his third varsity season, good things are about to happen.
“Two three-year guys who know what I expect,” Hennig said. “We got the ball inside, played through Hudson. Jack got hot. I thought it was a team effort.”
Things got away from Bartlett in a hurry. The Hawks were down only 13-11 late in the first quarter, but Geneva responded with a 17-2 burst to put the game away.
“We were hitting some shots early and doing what we wanted to do,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. “All of a sudden it was eight and then double digits.”
Wolfsmith is hoping his team gets what he wants them to after the tough loss.
“When you play a team as good as Geneva, you have to bring your ‘A’ game,” Wolfsmith said. We brought our ‘C’ game. We like to play as many hard teams as we can early in the season.
“The loss means nothing if we don’t learn from it.”
The Vikings also aren’t a complete team yet. They’re still incorporating some members of the football team which played for a state championship Saturday.
With the guidance of veterans like Hatton, however, things have worked out great so far.
“We’re capable of a lot this season,” Hatton said. “It’s nice to have those guys back for some depth. It’s nice when you can go 10 deep.”
As far as his future goes, Hatton is keeping all of his options open. If he decides to play sports in college, he could have his pick between basketball and soccer. He’s being patient, however.
“I don’t know what I want to do yet,” Hatton said. “I’m still kind of thinking about it. We’re just going to let this season play out and make a decision from there.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
