Geneva shocks Lake Catholic

Geneva senior guard Nick Stoltz woke up March 7 with the feeling.

Come the evening, he and the No. 6 seed Eagles would face No. 2 seed Lake Catholic in the Division II boys district semifinals at Ashtabula Lakeside.

“I told my mother, we can go with these guys. We can beat them,” Stoltz said, smiling, moments after the Eagles had put the wraps on a 79-68 victory.

As is on cue, Heather Stoltz walked up to her son and shared a warm embrace.

Stoltz finished with a team-high 18 points as Geneva improved to 16-8 and advanced to a district final against No. 1 seed Villa Angela-St. Joseph on March 9. Tipoff is 4 p.m.

“No one knew about

us when the tournament started, but we like being the underdog,” Stoltz said.

From the opening tip, the Eagles radiated confidence. They made shots, defended with purpose and made the lion’s share of hustle plays that enabled them to pull off the upset.

Geneva had leads of 1715 after one quarter, 35-31 at halftime and 55-49 going to the fourth quarter.

Senior guard Grant Mihalick added 17 points for Geneva. In the final stanza,

Stoltz scored 10 points as the Eagles weathered a final push by the Cougars and junior center Luka Eller, who netted a gamehigh 24 points.

“We became a team half way through the season,” Geneva coach Eric Bowser said.

“Now, we’re on a nice little run when it matters the most.”

The Eagles will carry an eight-game winning streak into the showdown against a VASJ team that, same as

Lake Catholic, will be favored to win.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, looks of disbelief were on the faces of many Lake Catholic players. Eller, who’d given his all and taken a pounding inside, dropped wearily to the floor and laid on his back.

He rose with an assist from teammate Christian DeMitro and made the long, slow walk toward the Lake Catholic bench, The Cougars finished 18-7.

“Geneva was the better team. They came to play and made big shots,” Lake Catholic coach Matt Moran said.

“Every time we came back at them, they did a tremendous job answering.”

That was especially true in the third quarter. The Cougars erased a 44-35 deficit with a 9-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from the left corner by senior guard Sean Fitzgerald.

Undeterred, the Eagles ended the quarter on an 11-4 tear.

Fitzgerald finished with 22 points and made five 3-pointers.

Geneva limited highscoring junior wing Luke Frazier to 10 points.

“Basketball is life. You don’t know what can happen,” Moran said. “We had a great season and won’t let this game define us.”

Stoltz and his teammates, meanwhile, are one more improbable win away from sending Geneva to its first regional appearance in 40 years.