All-time scoring records or all-state selections will not be the mark that senior guard Jack Hatton leaves as his imprint on the Geneva boys basketball program. And he’s fine with that.
It’s all about showing up and playing your best in the big games, and Hatton has done that in plenty of them for the Vikings, both in basketball and in soccer. Friday night was no different.
He also tried to impart that learned wisdom on his younger teammates.
“I tried to tell them it’s just like any other game,” Hatton said. “Obviously, there are more fans. It’s packed. Play like you’ve been there before. Play every game the same. Go out and have fun.”
Hatton did his part, helping Geneva take a halftime lead. Ultimately, Glenbard West pulled away in the second half for a 50-33 win in the Class 4A St. Charles East Sectional championship game.
While Hatton hit all three of his team’s 3-pointers in finishing with 10 points, the Vikings (29-5) struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 3 of 28. Hudson Kirby led Geneva with 12 points.
TJ Williams topped all scorers with 13 points for Glenbard West (25-5), and all of those came during the second half. Josh Abushanab added 10 points.
Geneva coach Scott Hennig knows if there’s one thing he can rely on from Hatton, it’s performing when the lights are brightest. It was the second sectional final for both Kirby and Hatton.
“Big games, he shows up,” Hennig said of Hatton. “I think he’s a gamer. He’s a tough kid. He’s a kid that just keeps playing. He goes along with a list of other names that did that.”
Geneva trailed 16-7 after the first quarter, but the Vikings locked things down defensively in the second quarter, outscoring Glenbard West 14-1 for a 21-17 halftime lead.
One of Hatton’s threes gave Geneva its first lead at 17-16 with 1:20 remaining.
“That second quarter, we just played tremendous defense,” said Hatton, who was helped by Kirby scoring five points in that span. “We were hitting shots. We were getting the ball inside. We played good defense.
“We were pretty confident going into the second half.”
Glenbard West, however, made things difficult for Geneva with a dominant 1-3-1 zone defense.
The easier looks the Vikings got Wednesday against Wheaton Warrenville South resulted in shooting 9 of 22 on 3-pointers. The Hilltoppers’ superior length and athleticism closed that gap.
“We knew they could shoot it,” Glenbard West coach Jason Opoka. “We knew we had to close out on shooters, so we aligned a little bit differently in our 1-3-1. We matched up with them.
“We challenged, we challenged to rebound, and our close-outs were fantastic. We’re longer, a little quicker and a little stronger, which always helps.”
Hatton said that type of defense can be intimidating to a 3-point shooting team.
“Their team is so talented and so big,” Hatton said. “Their presence, being so big, as a shooter, it can sometimes get into your head. We started missing shots.”
Hennig was quick to make sure people didn’t let the loss take away from Geneva’s season. The Vikings went undefeated in the DuKane Conference and won a regional title.
“I’m just really proud of them,” Hennig said. “It’s sad that it’s over, but it always come to an end. You say thank you. We’re going to celebrate these guys at our banquet.
“We talk about representing Geneva and playing the game the right way. We did that. We just didn’t shoot it well enough.”
Hatton said the locker room was quiet after the game. There will be time to reflect later.
“I wish we could have done more in soccer and basketball,” Hatton said. “We shouldn’t discredit our season because we had such a good season.
“Obviously, it’s a bad loss, but we have to be happy for what we did.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
