Zion-Benton stings Geneva
On a night the Geneva girls basketball team desperately needed its outside shots to drop, they didn't.
Facing a taller and overall more athletic team from Zion-Benton, the Vikings suffered through a 15 of 51 shooting performance and lost to the ZeeBees, 46-36, in front of 1,500 fans at the Class 4A Barrington supersectional Monday.
Zion-Benton (26-6) will make its first appearance at an IHSA state final girls basketball tournament Friday night when the ZeeBees take on Maine South (27-8) in the first state semifinal at Redbird Arena in Normal. Maine South won the Loyola supersectional, 42-37, over Proviso East Monday.
Geneva, which was in a supersectional for the third straight year, was denied its second trip to state in the last three years. The Vikings finish the season 25-7.
“It just wasn't our night shooting,” said Geneva coach Gina Nolan, whose team was held to its season low for points in a game. “It's not for lack of trying. The kids played hard. Give credit to Zion-Benton.”
Geneva's offensive woes weren't all self-made. The Vikes fell prey to one of the best defensive coaches in state history, Z-B assistant Frank Mattucci, the Hall of Famer who coached Stevenson to three state titles in the mid 1990s. Having already begun vacation in Arizona, Mattucci flew in for the game and had a defensive game plan all ready to go.
“Frank had a great defensive game plan and the kids executed it so well,” said a beaming Zion coach Tanya Johnson, the former Loyola Academy coach who won two state titles at that school just after Mattucci's 3-peat at Stevenson.
Zion-Benton's defense gave the Vikings fits from get-go. The ZeeBees pressured the ball and made it difficult for Geneva senior guard Kat Yelle to get into any kind of scoring position. She would finish with just 4 points in the final game of her splendid Geneva career.
“She's a good player,” said Zion senior Juanita Robinson of Yelle, who will play collegiately at Ohio University. “We just had to keep her from driving the lane. It was a team effort.”
The ZeeBees also dominated the paint all night long, denying Geneva any entry passes, which forced Vikes junior Ashley Santos outside. And even though Santos scored a game-high 20 points, she was just 8 of 23 shooting.
“We knew they were going to be quick but I don't think we were expecting as dominant a post as they had,” said Yelle. “Our shots just weren't falling. I can't say why. We were prepared for this game. But they were a good team.
“They played some great defense and it was tough to drive. This was a night we needed to rely on our outside shots and they just weren't falling.”
A nip-and-tuck first quarter ended with Zion-Benton getting baskets from 5-foot-11 junior Octavia Crump and freshman Samantha Rodriguez to take a 16-12 lead. Geneva would tie the game at 22 on a Santos basket with 3:53 left in the second quarter, but Robinson and senior Helena Rodriguez each scored to give Zion its 4-point lead back at halftime, a lead the ZeeBees maintained through the third quarter as Geneva struggled to hit shots, going 3 for 13 in the third.
Then, the fourth quarter simply belonged to Zion-Benton, especially the final minute.
After falling behind 40-31 midway through the period, the Vikings rallied and closed to within 40-36 after Santos made 1 of 2 free throws with 46 seconds to play. But then Geneva had to put Zion on the line and Crump, who was 0 for 5 free throw shooting in the first three quarters, went 4 of 4 and Helena Rodriguez added two and the ZeeBees large fan contingent was able to celebrate while Geneva could only experience supersectional heartbreak for the second straight year.
The ZeeBees shot 19 of 46 for the night and outrebounded the Vikings 39-23. Crump had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead Z-B, while Helena Rodriguez and Robinson each had 10 points.
“We thought we'd have to have an inside-outside game tonight and we just didn't get shots to drop,” said Nolan. “We knew they were fast and we might not get a lot of transition points. Their athleticism showed a lot on rebounding. They had great hops.”
And now the ZeeBees get to hop on a bus for a trip very familiar to their coaches — to Redbird Arena.
“It feels really good,” said Robinson. “We're making history.”