Geneva repeats title at Burlington Central

The Geneva Vikings defended their championship in the Burlington Central Lady Rockets Thanksgiving Tournament, but the host Rockets made them work for it.

Lindsay Blackmore scored 14 of her 28 points in the second half to lead Geneva past the Rockets, 51-47, in the de facto title game.

Elana Wells scored 30 points for Central despite being slowed by foul trouble.

Wells' 17 first-half points led the Rockets to a 31-27 halftime lead. But Blackmore turned it on in the second half, repeatedly driving to the basket against the Rockets, who were without forward Kat Schmidt for a fifth straight game.

After a Wells 3-pointer put Central ahead 36-33, Blackmore and Kelly McCoughan scored all the points in a 9-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Cassidy Arni made a steal and fed Blackmore for a layup to cap the run and put the Vikings ahead 42-37, a deficit from which the Rockets never recovered.

"At halftime we just talked about toughness," said Geneva coach Sarah Meadows. "I thought that Central did a really nice job of setting the pace at the beginning of the game and the level of toughness in our kids didn't answer it in the first half. We got a little tougher in the second half and got that momentum going."

"I was a little tentative in the first half and my shots weren't falling," said Blackmore. "But as it went on I think just the competitiveness in me came out."

The Rockets led much of the first half, but the Vikings were up when Wells picked up her third foul late in the half. Rylie DuVal came off the bench and hit 2 big 3-pointers to help Central regain the lead by halftime.

As losses go, falling to the Vikings, who have 2 state titles in the last 3 years to their credit, isn't too bad.

"We're a process-oriented team," said Rockets coach Collin Kalamatas. "Sometimes results are just out of our control. We play hard and the ball kind of bounces different directions and we've just got to roll with it. They did a phenomenal job of taking that approach today."

"Me getting into foul trouble obviously put a lot of pressure on (the other Rocket players) because they didn't know who to get the ball to," Wells said. "Geneva has a really good press, and when we get rattled it really affects us. I think in the first half we gave away probably 8 to 10 points off turnovers that really hurt us in the end. But I think we battled really hard."

Arni finished with 10 points. Grace Hinchman had 6 points and 5 rebounds for the Vikings.

The taller Vikings, who list 5 players at 6 feet or taller, used their height advantage on the offensive glass, repeatedly creating second-chance opportunities. And Blackmore, Hinchman, Kate Palmer and others were able to drive to the rim consistently, especially after the break.

The Rockets finished as runners-up to the Vikings for the second straight year.