advertisement

Geneva survives Lake Park in double overtime

It was worth the wait.

After 52 years, Geneva's basketball team was forced to play an extra 8 minutes before finally outlasting Lake Park (25-7) 57-52 in double overtime to win Tuesday night's Class 4A supersectional in DeKalb.

With the victory, the Vikings (30-3) matched their single-season school record for wins and advanced to Friday night's 4A state semifinals against Normal at the Peoria Civic Center.

Geneva, which led for just 7 minutes during regulation time, grabbed a 41-37 lead on a layup by Loudon Vollbrecht (15 points, 8 rebounds) with 1:53 left in the first overtime.

The Vikings still led 45-42 when the Lancers' Marcus McDaniel hit an improbable turnaround 3-pointer with five-tenths of a seconds remaining to tie the game at 45-45 and force a second overtime.

"Up until that point, Marcus had had a tough game," said Lancers coach Josh Virostko. "Then he hit a huge shot there."

"It felt like a sucker punch to the gut," admitted Vikings coach Phil Ralston. "I give our guys a tremendous amount of credit for keeping their composure."

Geneva outscored Lake Park 12-7 in the second extra session - 10 of the points coming at the free-throw line, where the Vikings enjoyed a 21-3 edge.

Geneva built a 53-49 lead with 37 seconds left when Lake Park's Danny Hynes (12 points) canned a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 53-53.

Stephen Moyer (9 points) and Pace Temple (8 points) made 2 free throws apiece during the final 16 seconds as the Vikings finally prevailed.

"Once we got to the next quarter (second overtime), there was no way we were going to lose this thing," said senior forward Nate Navigato, who led the Vikings with 16 points.

"Our guys strive in tight situations," said Ralston. "They came back twice on us and we weren't able to close it out. But we continued to fight.

"I give Lake Park a tremendous amount of credit - they really made our guys earn this one."

Cameron Van Aswegen had a team-high 15 points for the Lancers, who connected on 11 of 21 of their 3-point shots and committed just 8 turnovers against a Geneva team that enjoyed a 5-plus inch-per-starter height advantage.

The Vikings out-rebounded the Lancers by a staggering 36-17 margin.

"I feel good about the way these guys played," said Virostko. "They gave everything they had.

"A basket here … a basket there … and we're going to the final four."

Images: Geneva advances to state with a 2OT victory, 57-52 over Lake Park

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.