By Keith Brake
Geneseo Current

And Geneseo's varsity boys basketball team will take this new winning streak, thank you.

The Leafs began the Ryan Hill coaching era with a 58-41 win over the Erie-Prophetstown co-op team on Monday evening, Nov. 20.

It was the first game of the season, and it was part of the Geneseo Thanksgiving Tournament.

Geneseo didn't win a boys basketball game all of last season. That led to the dismissal of former Coach Brad Storm, and the hiring of Hill, who had been coaching at Davenport Central.

The Leafs showed a fast-moving defense and the ability to move the ball quickly on offense and hit shots from the wings in taking a 42-21 halftime lead.

The Panthers got more pressure on the ball after halftime and played their best quarter, outscoring Geneseo 16-8 to cut the Leaf lead to 50-37.

That gave Geneseo a chance to work on a time-killing weave on offense.

The Leafs wound up outscoring Erie-Prophetstown 8-4 in the fourth quarter to pull away to the 17-point victory.

There were some celebratory hugs as the Geneseo regulars came out in the closing seconds.

The tourney continues for Geneseo on Wednesday, Nov. 22, when the Leafs host Kewanee.