Geneva battles past WW South for regional crown

If Scott Hennig stays up to the wee hours this year following Geneva's regional championship game, the Vikings coach will be in a much better mood than two years ago.

That Geneva team entered the regional final at 28-2 only to lose at the buzzer to Hinsdale South.

"I remember Phil and I going back to the school till like 1 a.m. trying to figure out what happened," said Hennig, an assistant to head coach Phil Ralston in 2017.

Flash forward to Friday with No. 8 seed Wheaton Warrenville South trying its best to make Hennig relive that experience. But with a pair of seniors who were sophomore starters two years ago leading the way, Geneva wrote a different ending.

The Vikings outscored the Tigers 12-2 to start the fourth quarter, breaking open a tie game on their way to a 45-38 win in the Class 4A Metea Valley regional championship game.

"We just wanted to leave it all out there," three-year starting point guard Jack McDonald said. "This was a huge goal coming into the season. They (WW South) play so hard and their zone is so tough to beat. Thankfully we won't have to play them anymore."

Geneva came into the matchup with a 29-1 record and having defeated WW South twice. The Tigers did all they could to play spoiler.

Jeff Kratz buried three 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Tigers erased a 9-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 30.

Geneva senior Kross Garth opened the fourth quarter with a steal he took the other way for a breakaway layup. McDonald buried a 3, then hit two out of three free throws while being fouled shooting a 3.

McDonald assisted Mascari for a 3-pointer before Ben Johlie made a pair of free throws, opening a 42-32 lead with 3:51 to play.

"We just had to come down and execute our stuff," said Johlie. "Last year we couldn't get it (a regional title), the year before we couldn't get it. We've been in a drought. Coach really wanted us to get this win. We all wanted it so bad. It's definitely a relief but we're not done yet. Still a lot of work to do."

No. 1 seed Geneva (30-1) will play No. 4 Lyons, a 54-51 winner over No. 6 Glenbard West, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Class 4A Bartlett sectional semifinals.

Friday marked Geneva's ninth regional crown and first since the 2015 team finished fourth in state.

"It's a relief," said Mascari, the other three-year starter with McDonald. "We thought about this forever. Whole high school career. All the hard work we put in paid off."

Geneva also found itself in a tie game in the fourth quarter Tuesday in its regional semifinal against Hinsdale Central. Both games the Vikings made the plays with their season on the line.

"We were confident," Garth said. "We played pretty strong. We've been saying we're a fourth quarter team. Pretty experienced and we got it done.

"It means a lot to us. Finally wining that regional is really awesome and we're excited to keep going."

Wheaton Warrenville South (20-12) got within 42-36 with 2:03 left on a basket by Kratz. Geneva turned the ball over but a Tiger 3-pointer that would have made it a 3-point game rimmed off, then Johlie and Mascari made 3 of 4 free throws to seal the win.

Geneva struggled early, missing all 4 of its shots and committing 5 turnovers in the first quarter to trail 4-3. Mascari started a 10-0 run to open the second quarter with a layup - a surge that also included a corner 3 and a breakaway dunk from Garth. Geneva led 18-9 at halftime.

"Garth was the difference maker offensively and defensively," WW South coach Mike Healy said.

The Tigers held McDonald to 7 points and 3 assists. Mascari led Geneva with 14 points, Garth had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, Josh Preston scored 7 and Johlie had 6.

"Their zone is really good, they rotate really well," Mascari said. "We knew we had to get the 50-50 balls and rebound. We played great defense and pulled out the win."

"Both teams wanted that for sure," Garth said. "I feel the refs let us play a little bit. It came down to toughness basically."

Kratz scored a game-high 15 points, all in the second half. Owen Struebling added 8.

"At halftime we didn't feel like we were playing that poorly," Healy said. "We didn't write one thing on the board. I was so proud of our kids the way they bounced back and gave them a little bit of scare. I wish we could have had a little better start to the fourth quarter."

Healy took his time in the handshake line to congratulate McDonald and praised him afterward to reporters.

Hennig was happy for his seniors - and thrilled that another sparkling regular season record didn't end with a regional final upset.

"Both teams played so hard," Hennig said. "That's what it takes to win the regional. I feel really good for the seniors. Kids like McDonald and Mascari who have done so much for the program that they finally got a regional."