Geneva blows out Rolling Meadows
Some would say that Geneva girls basketball coach Sarah Meadows is a bit of a perfectionist.
"I didn't like the first three minutes of the fourth quarter but that's just me being me and I need to chill out," said Meadows.
Other than that brief stretch, Meadows had little to be upset about as the top-seeded Vikings (26-4) cruised to a 66-40 Class 4A Glenbard West sectional championship victory over third-seeded Rolling Meadows (23-8) Thursday night in Glen Ellyn.
Junior forward Madison Mallory (6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Vikings on the scoreboard, and three minutes later, the lead grew to 9-0 following baskets from Grace Loberg, Stephanie Hart and Maddy Yelle.
"In the locker room, we were just so excited and so ready," said 6-foot-2 senior center Loberg, who finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. "We didn't want to let anybody get in our way."
Loberg certainly did her part, scoring 10 second-quarter points as the Vikings outscored the Mustangs 24-12 to extend their 13-5 first-quarter lead into an insurmountable 37-17 halftime advantage.
"Grace is a stud," said Meadows. "We wanted her to have touches. The kids did a nice job getting her the ball and she executed."
Rolling Meadows, which lost a 54-48 decision to Geneva in the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 30 at the Montini Christmas Tournament, was limited to just 19 percent shooting from the field (4 for 21) during the first half.
"I think we've grown so much defensively," said Meadows. "That was a huge key for us tonight. To hold them to 17 points (in the first half) was big for us."
The Vikings forced 5 first-quarter turnovers with their ball-hawking, full-court pressure that seemed to frustrate the Mustangs.
"We didn't get the traps that we like but we liked that they had to work all the way up the court and they were throwing the ball out of bounds," said Meadows.
"Our defense has been fantastic," said junior guard Hart, who chipped in with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. "Pressure - that was our plan."
Geneva extended its lead to as many as 32 points at 55-23 after 3 quarters following the second of three 3-point baskets from junior guard Brie Borkowicz (9 points).
Rolling Meadows scored the first 7 points of the fourth quarter, including 5 points from senior guard Kyra Spiwak (14 points), before Geneva sealed the decision with a 9-2 run that featured 4 points from junior guard Margaret Whitley (8 points) and another 3-pointer by Borkowicz.
"There's no question that they're the better team," said Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "They've been doing this to a lot of people for a month and half or so. We just ran into a great team that is playing great."
Morgan Campagna added 9 points and 5 rebounds for the Mustangs.
"I can't say enough about my kids and what they gave us," said Kirkorsky.
Geneva, which earned its third sectional title in 4 years, moves on to Monday night's Addison Trail supersectional against Maine West (28-3).
"We'll put our work in and we'll be ready to go," said Meadows.
"We're not done yet," added Loberg.