Hudson Kirby goes for 31 points as Geneva secures first series sweep of Batavia since 2018-19

GENEVA — Geneva senior Hudson Kirby had been looking forward to a second go at Batavia for weeks.

After pacing the Vikings with 18 points in the first game against the Bulldogs back on Dec. 20, the Wisconsin-Parkside recruit knew that he would more than likely carry a similar workload to try and secure the series sweep.

And while that was exactly the case, the senior more than delivered. Especially when it came to getting into the paint.

“It just goes back to the rivalry, I just want to do whatever I can to win,” Kirby said. “Whether it’s getting those 50/50s down low or blowing past someone in the open court to get the assist or anything. I’m just doing whatever I can to win.”

Kirby ended his final rivalry matchup with a game-high 31 points to help lead the Vikings to a 68-44 victory to secure the first series sweep over the Bulldogs since the 2018-19 season.

“He was just outstanding tonight,” Vikings coach Scott Hennig said. “Even the shots he missed were good shots moving towards the basket. It just shows a kid that’s been in our system that has been willing to accept feedback and then go put the work in. It’s not like he’s a Division I, Power 5 player. He’s just a local kid who loves playing basketball that wants to keep getting better.”

Kirby and the Vikings (22-4 overall, 10-0 DuKane Conference) established the pace very early in the contest. After falling behind 5-4 on a put-back dunk from Batavia’s Jax Abalos, Geneva finished the quarter on a 19-3 run to establish a lead that would never dip below double-digits for the rest of the contest.

While Kirby provided the offense from within the paint and from the free throw line (9-of-12), the Vikings also found some success from behind the arc, with junior Gabe Jensen (14 points) dropping four 3-pointers on the night, including a deep 3 as the clock expired to end the first quarter.

“Last year when they came to our place, we got embarrassed real bad,” Jensen said. “We wanted to flip that this year. We haven’t won a game against them at home the past few years, so we knew we needed to get a win at home against them.”

Along with his 14 points, Jensen, a junior, also added seven assists, with most going to Kirby, as well as six rebounds.

“I thought he did a good job playing under control,” Hennig said. “He had some big shots for us, but I thought he was very patient in terms of getting us into offense and taking shots. He’s still learning, but he’s a just constant reinforcement.”

Despite some decent attempts to try to bring the game back, Batavia (9-14, 4-7) just could not overcome the early deficit, with its closest margin to the lead after the first quarter being 12 points after a pair of 3-pointers from junior Xavier Justice to start the third quarter.

“We just could never sustain stopping them enough to kind of get all the way back into it,” Bulldogs coach Jim Nazos said. “It’s just what happens when you get down that much that quick. Everything’s just got to be perfect.”

Nazos said that he was proud of the team’s fight this time around, especially after only managing just seven points in the first half of the last game. Abalos led the Bulldogs in scoring with 19, while Justice finished with 14.

“The group definitely has fight,” Nazos said. “They’ve come back a ton this year, so I don’t worry about that. There’s just things that we need to get better at. But credit to Geneva, they’re a good team. We’re obviously not there yet, but we’re working on it.”