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Geneva's depth, balance bests Wheaton North

When preparing for Geneva in the Class 4A Lake Park sectional semifinals Tuesday, Wheaton North coach Dave Eaton wasn't sure where to start.

"It's hard," Eaton said. "(Margaret) Whitley is a phenomenal player, (Maddy) Yelle, they all are. (Madison) Mallory is 6-2 and shooting lights out for 3. (Stephanie) Hart is shooting 48 percent from 3.

"They just hit big shots and there's so many of them who shoot it. They are a balanced team. That team is really good, there are so many kids to guard, if you help at all there's a wide open kid who can knock down a 3."

And after all that to worry about, it was sophomore Lindsay Blackmore off the bench who scored a game-high 15 points in the Vikings' 58-30 victory.

All that balance that concerned Eaton was on display all night. Yelle finished with 10 points and 4 steals; Brie Borkowicz 9 points on three 3-pointers; Whitley 8 points, 2 steals; Mallory 11 rebounds, 3 blocked shots; and Hart 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots.

It's a team effort that won Geneva last year's state championship, and the Vikings (27-3) haven't changed a thing in their repeat bid.

"We don't rely on one person," Yelle said. "We have a team full of people who bring something different and it just all together works."

No. 1 seed Geneva advances to play No. 2 Wheaton Warrenville South (27-3) for the sectional championship at 7 p.m. Thursday. The teams met in last year's sectional semifinals with Geneva winning 54-33.

It's the sixth time in the last seven years the teams have played in the postseason with the Tigers winning in 2012 and 2013 and Geneva in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

As balanced as the Vikings are offensively, they are just as much defensively. All five players pressure the ball, hit the boards and made life miserable for the Falcons (21-10).

Wheaton North scored 5 points in the second quarter, 5 in the third and 6 in the fourth.

"We always finish each practice with 'Team, together,'" Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. "That has been our motto for years. We're not counting on one kid or two kids to do it. We've never been about that. Our kids are totally bought in on that."

The Vikings held the Falcons scoreless over a 10-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters. Geneva scored 17 straight points to break open what had been a back-and-forth battle for the first quarter and a half.

"We knew we would have to step up the defense," Blackmore said. "I think we got up into their shorts and made them turn the ball over and that definitely benefited us."

Hannah Swider helped the Falcons start fast, scoring 7 points in the opening quarter. Geneva turned the ball over 4 times, leading just 15-14 when Blackmore nailed a 3-pointer.

Wheaton North regained the lead twice in the second quarter, the final time 19-18 on Nikki Baird's free throws. Those came with 6:01 left in the quarter; the Falcons didn't score again until Swider's basket with 3:42 remaining in the third.

By that time Geneva had taken complete control. Another 3 from Blackmore - Geneva hit 7 in the first half and 10 in the game - started a 17-0 run that also included Yelle's conventional three-point play, and 3s from Mallory and Whitley for a 31-19 halftime lead.

"The game of basketball is all about momentum and once we get a little piece of it our kids are going to feed off of it and go," Meadows said.

Mallory started the second half with a putback basket after grabbing 3 offensive rebounds on the same possession. Blackmore ended the third quarter with a 3-point basket, and Hart began the fourth with one of her own for a 46-24 margin.

The Falcons hit 6 of 9 shots in the first quarter, then just 1 of 10 in the second while finishing at 36.3 percent (12 for 33). Geneva also outrebounded the Falcons 36-17 and forced 16 turnovers.

Yelle spent much of her night guarding Baird while Hart checked Swider.

"In practice it helps we guard each other and push each other in practice," Yelle said. "We know the personnel of the other team and get that through our heads and try to lock them down.

"It (the slow start) rattled us a little bit but we definitely controlled our emotions and we knew we had three more quarters. We just had to stay calm which we did."

Swider led Wheaton North with 9 points, just 2 after the first quarter. Baird and Matti Zander both scored 7.

"You are going against firepower like that we need more kids to put the ball in the basket," Eaton said.

"I was really proud of our 8 seniors. They are all class kids. We have zero athletic violations. Nobody is getting in trouble. It was a really great group of seniors to have."

  Geneva's Wheaton North's Tuesday in the Lake Park girls basketball sectional semifinal game. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Madison Mallory leads her teammates on the bench in a victory yell Tuesday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Margaret Whitley gets her leg caught under Wheaton North's Matti Zander Tuesday in the Lake Park girls basketball sectional semifinal game. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Brie Borkowicz is fouled by Wheaton North's Megan Odell Tuesday in the Lake Park girls basketball sectional semifinal game. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Madeline Yelle scores on a break away against Wheaton North Tuesday in the Lake Park girls basketball sectional semifinal game. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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