Scouting the Class 4A Geneva-Normal state semifinal

By Dave Oberhelman

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

Class 4A IHSA semifinal

Geneva (30-3) vs. Normal (32-1)

When: 8:15 p.m. Friday at Carver Arena, Peoria.

Road to the sectional: Geneva beat DeKalb 66-52, St. Charles East 73-70, Rockford Jefferson 63-54, Rockford Auburn 65-62 and Lake Park, 57-52 in overtime. Normal beat Bloomington 69-36, Bradley-Bourbonnais 49-35, Rock Island 58-51, Alton 48-36 and Simeon 64-50.

The coaches: Geneva coach Phil Ralston has a record of 143-65 in seven seasons and is 251-167 overall counting the prior eight seasons as head coach at Grant. An Oak Park native married 24 years to wife Cathy with four children — including junior Ryan, a reserve guard for the Vikings — Ralston is a graduate of Glenbrook North and the University of Minnesota. His first basketball position was as a graduate assistant at Northwestern from 1994-96 before taking assistant coaching positions at Deerfield, Trinity International University and Grant, where he was a two-year aide to Tom Maple, a 2002 inductee into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. An English teacher, Ralston heads Geneva's third downstate trip (1908, 1963). He directed the Vikings to a share of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division title with St. Charles East, Geneva's first conference crown since 2008-09.

Normal Community coach Dave Witzig has a record of 323-158 in 16 seasons all with the Ironmen. He led Normal to a fourth-place Class 4A finish in 2011, losing to Warren and then Glenbard East. His teams have won 20 or more games 11 times including each of the last seven seasons. He's got eight regional titles under his belt. According to Illinois High School Association records, the Ironmen's 32-1 record is their best in history. Like Geneva, Normal never has won a state boys basketball title.

Probable starters

Geneva Normal

Name Ht. Yr. PPG. Pos. Name Ht. Yr. PPG.

Pace Temple 6-2 Sr. 8.0 PG David Boyd 6-1 Sr. 5.2

Daniel Santacaterina 6-1 Sr. 1.1 G Tyler Vance 6-0 Sr. 3.0

Nate Navigato 6-7 Sr. 20.3 G-F Zach Thompson 6-5 Sr. 8.8

Bennett Fuzak 6-7 Jr. 6.4 F Alex Peacock 6-7 Sr. 14.6

Loudon Vollbrecht 6-8 Jr. 10.7 C Tyler Seibring 6-7 Sr. 14.4

Outlook: Regardless of X's and O's, Geneva knows one thing about Normal — it won't enter the semifinal intimidated by the boys from up north. The Ironmen knocked off Simeon, four-peat Class 4A champions from 2010-13, by the handy score of 64-50 at the Normal supersectional at Redbird Arena.

Geneva is the same, though. After falling to Larkin in the last game of the regular season the Vikings regrouped in the playoffs to beat five teams with at least 22 wins including the No. 3 team in the final Associated Press Class 4A Poll, Rockford Auburn, a heavy favorite. One more victory gives the Vikings their most in a season. Geneva's combination of height, improved offensive ball possession since the return of point guard Temple from a football knee injury on Jan. 10 and shifting defenses — man-to-man, 1-3-1 with the likes of 6-foot-7 Mike Landi and 6-10 Chandler Fuzak up high, and a zone-plus-chaser — has averaged 63.2 points while allowing 47.4. Despite the 3-point shooting of Buffalo recruit Navigato and clutch outside shooter Bennett Fuzak, who have hit a school-record 73 and 26 3-pointers, respectively, the focus of Geneva's offensive sets is to get the ball inside. The 305-pound Vollbrecht has largely avoided serious foul trouble as the season's gone on, and he's hard to stop with the ball in the paint. Geneva thrives on the glass as well, averaging 32 total rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds a game. The Vikings successfully go nine to 10 players deep with second-teamers such as 6-3 junior Sean Chambers and 6-5 senior Stephen Moyer playing integral roles on both ends of the floor. Inevitably it'll come down to Navigato — the program leader in scoring, assists, steals and blocks, third in rebounds — particularly if it's close in the fourth quarter. He's led Geneva in scoring in 29 of 33 games. “I'd like to believe that we could run some good offensive sets against them and they may let it happen,” Ralston said about Normal. “It's going to be a very, very difficult matchup. It just doesn't get any easier as you're advancing.”

Winner of the Big Twelve Conference and losing only to Rockford Auburn 54-52 at Rockton Hononegah, Normal presents a combination of the strengths shown by Auburn and Geneva's Northern Illinois University supersectional victim, Lake Park. The Ironmen are “a team that will attack but in a methodical way,” Ralston said. In addition to its high-profile win over Simeon, Normal scored regular-season wins over Peoria Manual, Edwardsville and 27-game winner Neuqua Valley, which beat Geneva at the East Aurora Holiday Tournament. Ranked No. 5 in the final Associated Press 4A Poll to Geneva's No. 9, Normal averages 58.5 points a game and allows 41.7. “It's not just their offensive that's fundamentally sounds, it's their defense,” Ralston said. Geneva undeniably gets impact from its bench, but each of Normal's 14 players saw action in no less than 24 games, and the player with 24 is 6-8 senior center Connor Dibble. Normal brings height not many of Geneva's foes match. In addition to Thompson and the combination of two-time all-Big Twelve selections Peacock and Seibring — the latter headed to Elon — the Ironmen bring off the bench 6-3 guard Mitch Maier and 6-6 forward Ethan Pogge. Farrington is able to get to the foul line, his 77 free throws following only Peacock and Seibring. Thompson is a marksman with 56 3-point baskets on 40 percent shooting beyond the arc and 82 percent of his free throws. He's a Geneva concern after Lake Park made 11 of 21 3-point attempts. But the Big Two are Peacock and Seibring. Peacock averages 14.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists, scoring 25 against Simeon. Seibring averages 14.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and has made a team-high 59 3-pointers also on 40 percent shooting from the arc. As Ralston said, Seibring will be “a load” for Vollbrecht in the paint. “They have very balanced scoring and that's the thing about them, they don't have just one go-to guy,” Ralston said.

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner of the 6:30 p.m. semifinal between Bolingbrook (24-6) and Stevenson (28-3), 8:15 p.m. Saturday in the Class 4A state championship game.

— Dave Oberhelman