Coach Sly: Vikings send early message

It's only the first week of December, but Geneva's 3OT boys basketball win against Elgin on Friday will go down as one of the top few wins for an area team this entire season - book it.

It's definitely the biggest and best win for an area team in the first few weeks.

Give coach Ralston's fellas major props for taking down a fast, sharp-shooting Elgin team a lot of people expect to repeat as UEC River champions this season. Talk about sending a message in the conference opener.

Make no mistake, this was a big upset. This was a Geneva team coming off a rough season and playing without three key guys in its rotation. This was a Geneva team that was an unimpressive 1-3 at the Oswego Tournament to open its season.

But anyone ready to write off the Vikings as an also-ran this winter ought to take a second look. Sure, it's just one win, but if you can beat Elgin, you can beat anyone in the conference. And persevering to beat a good team in triple overtime, surviving all those ups and downs, is a pretty strong indicator about a team's character.

This Leahy kid looks like he's ready to have a big season. If some of the other guys can chip in like they did Friday and the Vikings get healthier soon, this could turn out to be a season much more like Ralston's first two in Geneva as opposed to last year.

That will play itself out. For now, the Vikings deserve to celebrate about as sweet of a 'W' as you're going to find this time of year.