advertisement

Geneva stops Lake Park to remain unbeaten in DKC

Five games into the first season of the DuKane Conference and Geneva has yet to lose a girls basketball game.

Not that it's been a piece of cake. Thursday's 54-39 victory at Lake Park in Roselle surely wasn't.

"It means a lot, especially coming to this new conference," Geneva senior guard Cassidy Navigato said. "We knew it was going to be really hard, so we just had to keep working hard. And we have."

The Vikings (12-6, 5-0) worked especially hard on defense. They stepped up their defense every time the Lancers (13-4, 2-4) tried to mount a comeback, and they held Lancers junior Darrione Rogers, a DePaul recruit, to 16 points.

"I thought we did a really nice job," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows added. "We talked about a plan with that kid (Rogers), and she's good. She still had 16. I thought it was pretty quiet, but when I looked up there (at the scoreboard) I was surprised. She just never got going, which is clearly in our favor.

"But yeah, I was happy with our defensive effort. I thought our kids played tough today. We knew that this team was a tough team, and I thought our kids ... were tougher than them."

Rogers struggled to get her shots to fall, but she never stopped working. She scrapped for 19 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. But the Vikings made sure they kept a close eye on her, as most teams do.

"A little bit, yeah," said Navigato, who opened the game with a 3-pointer and grabbed 5 rebounds. "We were making sure she didn't get all those shots that she needed. Luckily, she didn't get hot tonight, so that was good."

Trailing 4-3, Geneva scored the final 8 points of the first quarter, then scored the first 7 of the second. A Carly Vehrs free throw ended the 15-0 Geneva run.

"Our kids I thought got up for this game tonight," Meadows said.

The Lancers pulled within 5 points a few times, but Geneva always found a way to build the lead back to double digits.

"I don't think we did the little things very well," Lancers coach Brian Rupp said. "You get a rebound or you get a turnover against these guys, you're not going to beat them if you turn the ball over right after it.

"We didn't have five people ready to play. We didn't have five people stepping up. All of our losses they do something to Darrione, and we need someone else to step up. We need a couple other people to step up. And right now we're searching for those people."

Lindsay Blackmore had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Geneva, and Katie Montgomery had 13 points. Casey Darre added 11 points for Lake Park.

  Geneva's Lindsay Blackmore is fouled by Lake Park's Casey Darre Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Darrione Rogers and Geneva's Katherine Palmer compete for a rebound Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Emma Thorne and Geneva's Lindsay Blackmore fall Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Lindsay Blackmore gets a rebound against Lake Park's Kelli Moy Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Cassidy Navigato and Lake Park's Emma Thorne and Brayana Walker, right, chase the ball Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Casey Darre drives into Geneva's Grace Hinchman Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Casey Darre shoots over Geneva's Grace Hinchman Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Darrione Rogers runs into Geneva's Lindsay Blackmore Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Darrione Rogers stretches for a rebound against Geneva Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Lindsay Blackmore disrupts a pass by Lake Park's Katherine Kirkham Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Lindsay Blackmore stretches for the ball against Lake Park's Darrione Rogers Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Katie Montgomery tips the ball away from Lake Park's Darrione Rogers Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Grace Hinchman defends Lake Park's Darrione Rogers Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Darrione Rogers shoots against Geneva Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Emma Thorne and Geneva's Grace Hinchman fight for the ball Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Darrione Rogers glides in for a layup against Geneva Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Lake Park's Katherine Kirkham scrambles through the Geneva defense Thursday in a girls basketball game in Roselle. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.