Geneva tops St. Charles North for 8th straight regional
As good as the 2-3 zone has been to Geneva this year, the Vikings needed a little adjustment Thursday in the Class 4A Glenbard West regional championship game.
After Grace Quinn and Kyla Helsel came out reigning 3-pointers to keep underdog St. Charles North within 4 points at halftime, the Vikings made the switch to man-to-man in the second half.
It worked. Geneva held the North Stars to 5 third-quarter points, opening a 12-point lead on the way to a hard-fought 50-41 victory.
No. 2 seed Geneva (24-4) claimed its eighth straight regional title and 11th overall.
"In the 2-3 they were hitting a lot of 3s so we thought maybe if we give them a little more pressure they would makes less 3s and we could pressure them into turning it over more," Geneva sophomore Stephanie Hart said.
No. 7 seed St. Charles North (20-9) did just that, committing 7 of its 18 turnovers in a third quarter that the Vikings outscored them 13-5.
"I wasn't a fan of giving up all those 3s," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. "Twenty-four (Quinn) was hot. She can shoot. I just wanted to throw a little different look at them. We weren't even planning on staying with it but we did it so well we said let's roll with it."
The Vikings rolled right into the sectional semifinals Monday in Schaumburg against the winner of Friday's Batavia/Glenbard North game.
Junior Grace Loberg led the way with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 8 steals and 3 blocks. She got to the free-throw line 11 times, making 6, as the Vikings hit 14 of 21 to the North Stars' 3 of 6.
"It was definitely physical," Loberg said. "I know I was pushing, they were pushing. I'm just really proud of every girl on the team."
The North Stars were missing their leading scorer, Claire Jakaitis (sick). The senior entered the game late in the first quarter, then also played briefly in the second and third quarters but clearly wasn't herself.
"She hasn't been able to eat in two days and she's been taking all the cold medicine and didn't eat so that didn't help," North Stars coach Sean Masoncup said. "You have to give her credit, she tried to gut it out. When we walked downstairs she literally passed out."
Geneva beat the North Stars by 17 and 12 in the regular season and when Colleen Grady made a pair of free throws for a 13-3 lead it looked like the Vikings would run away again.
The North Stars answered with a 13-2 run of their own capped by a Camryn Pozna basket for a 16-15 lead. Helsel's 3 moments later put the North Stars up 19-17.
Geneva led 29-25 at halftime, then while its man defense stifled the North Stars on one end, Loberg, Hart and Whitley scored all 13 third-quarter points to open a 42-30 lead.
"We kind of lost our composure in the second quarter," Hart said. "Our main focus at halftime was to really work the ball around and stop rushing."
Quinn caught fire again with three 3-pointers in the fourth, getting North as close as 44-39 with 3:27 left. She led the North Stars with 15 points.
"Congrats to Grace, she played a terrific game," Whitley said. "She just kept making them."
Loberg answered with a pair of free throws and then scored on a pass from Taylor Williams to push the lead to 48-39 with a minute left. Moments later the Vikings were doing what they do every time this time of year - posing with a regional plaque.
"We gave it every single thing we had," Masoncup said. "Geneva is the standard everybody in the Western suburbs wants to be and we gave them everything we have without our best player. This is my first time in my three years here I don't have any regrets."