Dane Turner has always been good when it comes to reading passes.

For most of his senior season, it’s been as a defensive back on the football field for Geneva, where he was named to the DuKane All-Conference team for the second straight season.

And heading into Friday’s matchup against St. Francis, where the team was told to be ready to protect the passing lanes, he knew that he could thrive.

“A big focus for the one-line and two-lines has been getting pressure on the ball and using our energy on defense,” Turner said. “Get a lot of steals, move our feet a lot and change the game to have good things happen.”

And plenty of good things happened in the first half for the host Vikings.

Turner’s five steals in the first half paced the Vikings in a huge defensive effort, allowing just one point from the Spartans in the first half of a 39-22 victory to take the title in the Bob Schick Thanksgiving Tournament.

“We talked about having ball pressure in our walk through, and I just thought our guys were just active with our hands,” Vikings coach Scott Hennig said. “Really a credit to these guys. They’ve been buying into the things we’ve been asking for. We’ve still got a lot to work on, but we’ll take it a game at a time.”

The Vikings (3-0) ended up finishing the game with 14 steals in the contest, with 10 of them coming in the first half. Along with Turner, who finished the game with six, junior David Udoiwod added three steals, while four other Vikings added a swiped ball. Senior Kyle Suger also added three blocks on defense.

“The defense was just outstanding in that first half,” Hennig said. “It’s kind of a weird year because we have a lot back, but also have a lot of new faces who can contribute. But the cool thing about it is that they’re all really good guys to be around.”

The defensive effort was more than enough for the Vikings. Senior Gabe Jensen led the team with 12 points, with senior Nathan Palmer, who was the Tournament MVP, close behind with 11 points.

“I think the offseason work really got me ready heading into this season,” Palmer said. “My trainer and my coaches really helped me a lot through the offense with the ball screens and handoffs, which has helped a lot early on.”

St. Francis (1-2) didn’t get on the board until midway through the second quarter with a made free throw from senior Nathan Silagi accounting for the only point in the first half. The Spartans finished the half shooting 0 for 13 from the field and 0 for 6 from 3-point range.

“You can’t expect to compete with a team when you turn the ball over that much,” Spartans coach Erin Dwyer said. “It was a learning opportunity. Unfortunately, its a tough way to learn, but you have to do it.”

The Spartans did manage to get the scoring going in the third quarter, putting up 15 points in the frame and drawing it to a 28-16 game going into the final quarter.

“We came out right away and won the third quarter,” Dwyer said. “It all started with the defense. I was happy with the fact that we came out and guarded better, and in return it led to us getting some better shots in.”

Senior Tanner Hozian and junior Ben Whorlow led the offense with six points each, finishing as the only Spartans with multiple made field goals in the game.