Geneva pulls away from St. Charles North early
Turns out winning the Class 4A state championship isn't the only thing Geneva remembers about its 2016-17 campaign.
Just ask St. Charles North.
The Vikings didn't forget about the lows in that storybook season either, and that included a 61-49 loss to St. Charles North in January.
Geneva didn't lose again after that defeat, winning its final eight games in the regular season and all seven in the postseason for a 15-game winning streak.
The Vikings haven't lost yet this year either, now with eight straight victories to start the season after beating the North Stars convincingly 49-28 Friday night in Geneva.
"North was our last loss so this game we were all ready to go, we cannot slow down," said senior Stephanie Hart, who missed the St. Charles North game last year with an illness.
"This was pretty much our revenge, our redemption. We knew the whole game we have to keep going, we can't stop."
After a slow start for both teams, Geneva (8-0, 3-0 in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division) put the game away with a 23-0 run spanning the first and second quarters.
The Vikings made life miserable for the North Stars with their quick traps off their diamond press. St. Charles North (4-4, 1-2) turned the ball over 15 times in the first half and made just 3 of 15 shots from the field.
"When we were trying to bounce between press breaks we were getting a little confused, a little rattled," North Stars coach Mike Tomczak said.
The times the North Stars were able to break the press, the Vikings switched to a man in the half court. Maddie Yelle picked up North's leading scorer Anna Davern, and one or two Vikings would swarm Davern when she tried to make a post move.
"We feel a lot of our kids can guard any kid," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. "We don't necessarily have to have a certain kid on anybody. Maddie did a great job on Anna. She's our best defender and came ready to play. We talked about pinching. The kids did a nice job of that."
While the North Stars only scored 2 points in the first quarter, Geneva wasn't much better, making just 2 of 15 shots for a 6-2 lead. That changed quickly in the second quarter when Margaret Whitley buried a 3, Brie Borkowicz converted a conventional 3-point play, and Hart drained back-to-back 3s for a 19-2 lead.
Whitley hit another 3-point shot, Yelle scored on a layup and Whitley sank 2 free throws to complete the 23 unanswered points and make it 26-2.
"We struggled in the first quarter but we had the shots we wanted," Meadows said. "So we said just be patient and they are going to fall."
The North Stars didn't score in the second quarter until Davern's free throw with 1:34 left. They trailed 26-8 at halftime and didn't get closer than 16 points in the second half.
"That seems to be our MO this year," Tomczak said. "Against high quality elite teams like that, you need four quarters. You can't give them two. We're a little disappointed how we came out."
St. Charles North shot the ball better in the second half. Davern scored 10 of her team-high 13 points after halftime, and Brooke Elliott provided a spark with 8 points off the bench.
"She (Elliott) is a kid who is not intimidated by things and we were looking for a lift," Tomczak said. "She hit a 3 at the end of the first half and it doubled our points. We are real happy with her contribution tonight."
Hart led all scorers with 18 points including four 3-point baskets. Whitley added 12 points, Borkowicz had 10 points and 5 steals, Yelle finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals, and Lindsay Blackmore grabbed 8 rebounds.