St. Charles East holds off Geneva
St. Charles East's Justin Hardy admitted that the electric atmosphere in the Saints' gym Wednesday night far exceeded anything he has seen during his early high school career.
Hardy, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, scored a game-high 18 points with 6 rebounds as the fifth-seeded Saints (16-12) knocked off third-seeded Geneva 48-45 in the Class 4A St. Charles East boys basketball regional semifinals.
"I was on the team last year but I never played in a playoff game before the other night," said Hardy, whose short turnaround baseline jumper put the Saints on top for good 44-43 with 1:04 remaining. "We played Streamwood Monday but it definitely was not the same feeling as this."
The Saints, who dropped a 73-70 regional championship decision to Geneva on the Vikings' home court last year, will look to capture their first regional crown since 2007 against second-seeded Batavia (20-9) Friday night.
Geneva opened a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter thanks in part to a 10-1 run that featured 5 points from senior Bennett Fuzak (14 points), who connected on his first 3 field-goal attempts - 2 from beyond the 3-point arc.
"I felt like we were in control of the game when we executed the things we wanted to execute," said Vikings coach Phil Ralston.
St. Charles East scored the final 3 points of the half, capped by Hardy's buzzer-beating layup off a pinpoint pass from Zach Mitchell, to cut the Vikings' halftime lead to 22-17.
"I was just glad we were down five at the half because it could have been a lot worse," said Saints coach Patrick Woods, whose team shot just 30 percent (6 for 20) in the first half.
Senior guard Evan DiLeonardi, who scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, began the third quarter with a steal and one-handed dunk to trim the deficit to 22-19.
"That was nice," said DiLeonardi. "It got the crowd into it a little more in the second half."
After the Vikings extended their lead to 27-19 on a layup by senior Jordan Vedder (13 points), Saints junior guard Zach Mitchell converted a 3-point play to make it 27-22 and they tied it at 27-27 a few moments later on a Hardy basket.
DiLeonardi, who added a pair of driving layups in the third period, drained a 3-pointer from the corner and Hardy's 3-point play enabled the Saints to build a 40-34 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
"I knew we had to get something going," said DiLeonardi.
"Once he gets going, it's tough to stop," said Woods, "especially if he gets going downhill."
Two free throws from senior James McQuillan with 17 seconds remaining extended the Saints' lead to 48-45 and the Vikings misfired on a late 3-point attempt in the closing seconds.
"To me, those were the two biggest points of the game," said Woods. "We needed those free throws. That's why we had him in there."
Geneva, which placed fourth in the state a year ago, finished its season at 22-7.
"Our kids had a heck of a run," said Ralston. "A lot of hard work was put in by these guys to have that kind of a record. It's just a shame that we don't have the hardware to show for it."