Geneva tops Burlington Central to win Rockets' tourney
Short-handed Burlington Central battled Geneva Tuesday night in the championship game of the Rockets' Thanksgiving tournament but didn't have the firepower to take down the two-time defending state champs.
Geneva junior Lindsay Blackmore led all scorers with 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, sophomore Katie Palmer added 11 points and the Vikings held off the Rockets' fourth-quarter surge for a 51-43 victory in their first year entering Burlington Central's tournament.
Geneva (4-1) rebounded from a 3-point loss to Belvidere North on Friday night by beating McHenry Saturday morning to win its pool and advance to the title game.
"That (loss) made us more eager to want to win and win those close games," Blackmore said. "This game was a big confidence-booster for us."
Playing without three regulars including leading scorer Kat Schmidt, the Rockets (4-1) fell behind by 15 points in the third quarter before fighting back to as close as 4 points on two occasions late in the fourth quarter.
Burlington Central had a couple golden opportunities to get even closer but couldn't get shots to drop in the final two minutes before Geneva hit free throws to extend the final margin.
"I would have liked to have seen us keep that gap but (Burlington Central) plays hard," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. "Those kids come right at you. They are up in your face and play hard.
"Going into Saturday morning I thought we'd learn a lot about this group. That was a quick turnaround. I thought our kids did an excellent job responding to that loss. They are coming together."
Geneva has five new starters from its state championship team. Blackmore averaged 6 points a game last year, the leading returning scorer.
The Vikings made seven 3-pointers in the first half Tuesday including three from Emma Kornak and two by Cassidy Navigato but didn't shoot well overall, finishing at 27.4 percent (14 for 51). But they played scrappy defense, holding the Rockets to 26 percent shooting (13 for 50). They also outrebounded Burlington Central 48-27 with Palmer and Navigato each grabbing 7 boards.
"Even though Blackmore is the only one who has played, there's a leftover affect of winning two state championships," Burlington Central coach Mark Smith said. "I don't care what people say. You have that aura in the whole program. They play like it. Sarah does a great job."
Burlington Central took its only leads of the game early when Elana Wells scored on a drive and then hit a 3-pointer, and Alexandra Lichner also made a 3 for an 8-3 lead.
Kornak's second 3 put Geneva ahead to stay at 9-8. The Vikings led 14-11 after one quarter despite a buzzer-beating 3 from Wells.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, Wells picked up her third foul seven seconds into the second quarter and sat the rest of the first half. Geneva won the second quarter 19-10 to lead 33-21 at halftime.
Trailing by as much as 36-21, the Rockets started attacking the basket, finishing the second half with 12 free throw attempts after only 2 in the first half. Lichner's free throw made it 45-37, then Wells hit a pair to pull within 45-39 with 3:40 left.
Liliana Moretti's layup off a steal and assist from Wells made it 45-41 before Grace Hinchman sank her only shot of the game, a 17-foot jumper to restore a 6-point Geneva lead.
Wells drove for a basket with 1:17 left to again get Burlington within 47-43. After two free throws from Blackmore, the Rockets missed three good looks from 3-point range as their rally ran out of steam.
"The first half we were really tentative," Smith said. "I thought the second half we took it to them, we tried to go to the basket harder. I was pleased with the second half. We missed some layups and had some good looks. That's the way it goes."
Wells led Burlington Central with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Moretti added 10 points while Zoey Kollhoff battled Blackmore inside. The Rockets hope to have Schmidt back next week; the junior who went over 1,000 points in the season opener last Monday but suffered a concussion early in last Thursday's game.
Kornak added 9 points for Geneva.
"We really wanted to show everyone we could come back from that loss and play hard," Palmer said. "It feels great to win this tournament and start off the season with a great start."
Wells, Schmidt and Blackmore all made the all-tournament team.
"Lindsay is going to be our kid all year and that's not a secrete for anybody," Meadows said. "She deserves that and she's earned that and she's ready for that. She did a real nice job this tournament. She scored big points when we needed her to."