Geneva pulls away from Glenbard North

Geneva never trailed Monday night in Lombard, but Glenbard North was seemingly always within range.

But Michaela Loebel, Janie McCloughan, Madeline Dunn and Sidney Santos all scored in the last minute-plus in second-night action of the Rachel Back Tournament at Glenbard East.

The Vikings’ 8-point burst to close out the third doubled their lead over Glenbard North entering the final period.

The Geneva bench completed the 62-35 girls basketball triumph with solid play in the final quarter.

Sarah Meadows’ game plan was completely altered only minutes into the game when two quick fouls forced a pair of starters to the pines.

“(The reserves) are going to have to play,” Meadows said of the influx of fouls called in the early part of the season. “(The referees) are dictating the way the game is being played.”

Meadows lost the services of starter Abby Novak to a right ankle injury in the third quarter, but Dunn answered the call of duty.

The senior forward scored 7 of her 9 points for Geneva after the intermission.

“It isn’t the way you’re raised to play,” Dunn said of the new officiating standards regarding physical contact. “I knew I had to step up a little bit (for Novak). They were big shoes to fill.”

Geneva (2-0) limited the Panthers (0-3) to a pair of 7-point first-half quarters to take a 26-14 lead into the locker-room intermission.

Veteran stalwarts Loebel and Santos, who had 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the Vikings’ balanced attack, each hit 3-pointers in the second quarter to frame the Vikings’ double-digit lead at halftime.

But Laila Pickens’ third-quarter brilliance brought the Panthers right back into the game.

The senior forward scored a game-high 18 points, and she either scored or assisted on all but 2 of the Panthers’ 13 third-quarter points.

Caitlyn Deegan had an inside field goal to bring Glenbard North to 35-27 late in the third quarter.

But Geneva would answer with 12 consecutive points bridging the close of the third and beginning of the final quarter.

“We didn’t have too good of passes,” Pickens said of the Vikings’ four different players scoring to finish the third quarter. “If we had a better stretch through those three minutes, we could have stayed with them.”

Sophomore Taylor Williams epitomized the Vikings’ depth as the forward slashed for all 8 of her points in the final quarter.

Williams’ many slashes to the bucket typified the Vikings’ 24-2 run since the Panthers closed to within eight late in the third quarter.

“I knew we had to finish that fourth quarter off,” Williams said. “I saw the lanes and knew I had to take it.”