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Geneva sectional champ again

Patience, perseverance and finally prayer — Geneva wouldn’t have survived Cary-Grove 55-53 Thursday night in the Class 4A Jacobs sectional championship game thriller without all three.

Geneva senior Katelyn Allen’s 2 free throws with 3.6 seconds left broke a 53-53 tie. Johanna Geegan’s half-court shot as time expired hit off the backboard, setting off a wild celebration for the Vikings after their third straight sectional championship, their most improbable one yet.

Geneva (25-6) will play Zion-Benton (25-6) in the Barrington supersectional at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Zion defeated Barrington 41-37 in overtime Thursday in the Mundelein sectional championship.

“I was nervous before I got up there, my hands were shaking,” Allen said. “I saw Kat (Yelle) on the bench praying and I thought ‘I’m going to get it for you.’ I just want to win it for the team because I don’t want to stop and neither do they. I had to go up there with confidence, take my four dribbles, two breaths.”

Ashley Santos set up Allen’s game-winning free throws when she stole the ball on a Cary-Grove out-of-bounds play.

Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert had the play set up for his star Claire Jakubicek, the Northern Illinois-bound senior who led all scorers with 23 points.

“I was first looking for my man and she was taking it out of bounds so I had to sprint towards her,” Santos said. “I knew Claire was their go-to person so they were going to pass it to her. It was just all good timing.”

The Vikings’ patience came early, running their offense to perfection most of the first half with crisp passing and excellent ball movement that led to 60 percent shooting from the field and a 10-point lead. They needed their perseverance after Cary-Grove stormed back from 14 points down to go ahead in the final minute.

The Trojans (27-4), who had their 14-game winning streak snapped, fell behind 38-24 early in the third quarter. Cary-Grove battled all the way back to a 51-49 lead with 2:35 remaining on Jakubicek’s steal and layup.

Yelle rebounded a Santos miss to tie the game at 51. Olivia Jakubicek’s 2 free throws with 47.3 seconds left gave Cary its final lead, 53-51. Yelle quickly tied the game by finding an opening and driving for a basket, making it 53-53 with 36 seconds left.

The Trojans held the ball until Saffert called timeout with 13.7 seconds left. But they never got a chance for the final shot when Santos overplayed the inbounds pass for her third steal of the game.

“We wanted to give it to her (Claire Jakubicek) and let her create,” Saffert said. “If she got a shot fine, certainly we would have taken overtime too.

After Geneva called time with 8.6 seconds to go, Cary-Grove still had 2 fouls to give. The Trojans took both, leaving Sammy Scofield to inbound from under the basket with 4.6 seconds left.

The two future Division I soccer players connected, with Scofield finding Allen on the left block. Allen was fouled by Olivia Jakubicek, and was relieved to have a second chance after she had missed a 3-pointer and a short open shot inside and two earlier possessions.

“I know Katelyn wasn’t happy she missed that 2-footer underneath,” Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. “I just knew she was going to make those free throws. She is in it to win it right now.”

For 20 minutes it never looked like a game that would be decided in the final seconds. Though both teams struggled early, each launching an airball and committing a couple turnovers, once Geneva got going, there wasn’t much the Trojans could do to slow them.

Santos drove baseline and found Kelsey Pease for the Vikings’ first basket four minutes into the game. Allen followed with a corner 3 giving Geneva its first lead, 7-6, that it didn’t relinquished until the final two minutes.

Yelle’s putback and 3 led to Saffert’s first timeout down 12-6. Yelle finished the quarter with a drive and left-handed scoop at the basket for an 18-12 lead.

Geneva played even better in the second quarter, sinking 8 of its 10 field goal attempts. The Vikings got one good look after another set up either by their ball movement or penetration and kicks from Yelle, Santos and Scofield.

Santos, who scored 8 points in the second quarter, hit a jumper for Geneva’s first double-digit lead, 28-18. Paige Lincicum kept the Trojans in the game with their final 6 points of the first half, but they still found themselves in a 34-24 halftime hole when Pease scored Geneva’s final 2 baskets of the half, one on a Scofield assist and the other on a stickback of 1 of just Geneva’s 2 misses in the quarter.

Geneva wound up making 15 of 25 shots in the first half and finished the game 24 of 44 (54 percent) while Cary ended 21 of 50. That made up for the Trojans’ beating Geneva on the glass 24-20, going 10 of 12 at the line to Geneva’s 4-4, and a rarity for the Vikings — committing more turnovers, 17-13.

“Once we decided to play defense the way we play defense it was a different game,” Saffert said.

The Vikings picked up where they left to open the third quarter. Scofield threaded a needle to find Yelle for a layup, then another Yelle fastbreak bucket for their biggest lead of the night, 38-24.

The Jakubicek sisters brought the Trojans back. After Santos went to the bench with her third foul – the first two on charges and the third trying to block Claire Jakubicek’s shot – the Trojans scored 7 straight to start a 25-11 stretch that Cary dominated and ended with Claire Jakubicek’s 2 free throws tying the game at 49.

The sisters scored 19 of those 25 points. A banked in 3 from Joslyn Nicholson also helped the comeback while Megan Straumann, despite being held to 2 points, ignited the defensive play with 6 steals.

Olivia Jakubicek added 14 points to follow Claire’s 23,

“I’m an English teacher and I can’t think of the words to tell them how proud I am of them,” Saffert said.

“Even though we lost I know we’ll be a team forever,” Claire Jakubicek said. “Everyone stepped up this year. We just play together as a team and there was just a fire in us.”

Yelle led Geneva with 17 points, Santos scored 16 and Allen followed up her career-high 23 points Tuesday with 12 more. Geneva is one win away from its second trip to state in three years.

“I’m still in a little shock,” Nolan said. “I’m so happy for the girls. They stuck together. Those last couple timeouts we talked more about believing in each other rand working together than Xs and Os.”

Images: Geneva vs. Cary-Grove girls basketball

  Cary-Grove’s Megan Straumann is inconsolable after the Trojans loss to Geneva during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Geneva’s Katelyn Allen sinks the deciding free throw with 3.6 seconds left to lift the Vikings over Cary-Grove during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Geneva’s Ashley Santos blocks a shot by Cary-Grove’s Claire Jakubicek during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Kat Yelle, right, and Katelyn Allen hug while their Geneva teammates celebrate following Thursday’s sectional final win over Cary-Grove at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Cary-Grove’s Joslyn Nicholson puts up a shot while being defended by Geneva’s Katelyn Allen during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Geneva players pile on Katelyn Allen (center with headband looking up) after her free throws provided the winning margin over Cary-Grove during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Cary-Grove’s Claire Jakubicek scores to bring the Trojans within a basket late against Geneva during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Cary-Grove’s Olivia Jakubicek scores against Geneva during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Geneva’s Kat Yelle drives to the basket past Cary-Grove’s Olivia Jakubicek during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Geneva’s Ashley Santos rips down a rebound against Cary-Grove during Thursday’s sectional final at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com