GENEVA–When Ashtabula County rivals from the Chagrin Valley Conference Lake Division meet, the result is usually fast, physical, and entertaining. Saturday’s matchup between Geneva and Edgewood followed that script to the letter.
Geneva erased a halftime deficit with a dominant third quarter, knocking off visiting Edgewood 75-63 behind a decisive 21-8 run coming out of the locker room.
The Eagles trailed 35-28 at the half but flipped the momentum to take a 49-43 lead after three quarters and never looked back on their way to a 12-point victory.
“I always talk about how culture eats strategy for lunch. If we come out with relentless effort, competitive excellence, power of the unit, and work on our principles, things will go in our favor,” said Geneva first-year head coach Connor Zimmer. “In the second quarter, we weren’t doing those things. All we talk about is our culture, and then we go into halftime, kicking ourselves and talking about what we need to do. We changed some defensive tactics on (Logan Mezak), but besides that, we just did what we needed to do to win.”
Edgewood came out firing early, with Logan Mezak scoring all 10 of the Warriors’ first-quarter points as they built a 16-10 lead. Nate Csiszar and Antonio River countered with a pair of three-pointers to keep Geneva within striking distance.
The tide turned briefly when Dylan Schaef converted an and-one for the Eagles, but Edgewood quickly responded. Mezak completed a four-point play, Dezarion Triplin scored in transition, and Mezak buried two more triples before adding a floater to push the Warriors ahead 33-22.
Csiszar answered with another three, and Deven Christine cleaned up the glass to give Edgewood a 35-28 lead at the break.
Then, Caden Proy took over.
The senior guard poured in 15 points in the third quarter alone, fueling Geneva’s 21-8 surge and giving the Eagles a 49-43 advantage entering the fourth.
“I told him at halftime he needed to step up, and when we coaches tell him something, he does it for us, and that’s what I love about him,” Zimmer said of his senior. “We needed someone to step up, and he recognized that.”
Geneva kept its foot on the gas in the fourth.
Dallas Patterson knocked down a free-throw line jumper, Csiszar drilled a three, Proy added a steal and score, and Patterson connected from deep as the Eagles extended the lead to 56-49.
River followed with a three to make it 61-49, then Csiszar scored along the baseline and buried a deep three that all but sealed it, pushing the lead to 68-56.
At the heart of the comeback, Zimmer said, was Geneva’s commitment to playing as one.
“You need five guys out there (five fingers) to make a unit (fist). That’s what we did, and we talk about doing it all the time. The guys came out being hunting dogs,” he said. “They all played their roles, playing unselfishly, being disciplined, and when we buy into those principles, we’re a hard team to beat.”
Proy finished with a game-high 24 points, all coming in the second half, while shooting 7-of-14 from the floor. Csiszar added 22 points, hitting five three-pointers and going 7-of-8 overall.
River knocked down three triples for nine points, Noah Hicks added eight, and Bryce Peet and Schaef chipped in six apiece for Geneva.
Edgewood couldn’t recover after the third-quarter swing.
“We kind of hung our heads a little bit. It’s hard to replicate the kind of defense that Geneva puts on, specifically in that second half,” said Edgewood head coach Jay Bowler. “(Geneva) really got after it, pressuring the ball much like they have all season. The first half was kind of lackadaisical for everybody, but Geneva really turned up the on-ball defense and bothered us.”
Bowler acknowledged that the process is ongoing in his second year with the program.
“We have a long way to go, specifically with the physicality,” Bowler said. “It’s very hard to replicate their defense in practice or any game, so I need to do a better job and make sure everybody’s prepared. Luckily, it’s still early in the season.”
Mezak led Edgewood with 21 points, hitting five three-pointers, while Patterson added 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
Geneva continues league play Dec. 17 at Jefferson. Edgewood returns to action the same day at home against Madison.
