Geneva rallies to beat Hinsdale Central
The Geneva boys basketball team fought off Hinsdale Central 66-56 on Tuesday night in the first Class 4A Metea Valley regional semifinal.
The Vikings are the top seed in the Bartlett sectional and the Red Devils are listed at 17th. It would be easy to conclude that perhaps Geneva looked past Hinsdale Central.
That's far from being the case.
In the high school basketball postseason one frequently needs to look deeper and go past the seeds to determine the quality of a team.
"They are not a 17th-seeded team. They beat Glenbard West. They beat Downers Grove North. I was worried about this game," said Geneva coach Scott Hennig.
Downers North is seeded fifth in the Bartlett sectional, Glenbard West is the sixth seed.
The Vikings (29-1) advance to Friday's regional final against Wheaton Warrenville South.
The Red Devils (9-20) led 42-39 at the end of three quarters and kept that advantage or were tied with Geneva until Mitch Mascari's basket put Geneva up 50-48. About 30 seconds later teammate Jack McDonald breezed through the lane to push the Vikings' advantage to 4.
A pair of free throws from Sam Hoiberg, who led his team with 20 points, put the Red Devils back to within 2.
Geneva called a timeout with 4:32 remaining in the game, and the Vikings responded with a basket from Ben Johnson and a 3-pointer from McDonald. Hinsdale Central called a timeout with 3:46 left and then Johnson came out of the timeout with another bucket to put his team up 59-50. The Vikings had the firm grip on the game that had been eluding them most of the contest.
"They came out with a lot of energy and they were not missing a lot of 3s. We were able to slow them down. They're a good team. It was a good win," McDonald said.
He led all scorers with 37 points. Mascari was the other Viking scoring in double digits with 11.
"I'm proud of the way we executed. It's not like the best of five or the best of seven. High school is just one game and if you don't play well you'll get beat," Hennig said.
Garret Sneed, Kross Garth, Ben Johile and Alex Williams were also crucial to the victory.
Hinsdale Central led by as much as 10 with just over four minutes left until halftime. McDonald closed out the first half with a three-point play that reduced the Red Devils lead to 33-30 at halftime.
Geneva and WW South are members of the DuKane Conference, and the Vikings swept their regular-season series.
"We'll deal with them the way we have. Both have different styles. The coaching staff will start planning in the morning and go from there," Hennig said.