St. Charles North shakes off slow start, beats Geneva
Having never won on Geneva's home court, it didn't look like things would change for Launi Chanthaboury and the rest of the St. Charles North senior class when the North Stars quickly fell behind 10-0 Thursday night.
It didn't get much better the rest of the first quarter, and by the midpoint of the second quarter the North Stars found themselves down 26-10.
But St. Charles North regrouped and completely flipped the game around, going on a 24-2 run spanning the second and third quarters on its way to a 61-56 victory.
Those seniors, and all the North Stars, celebrated in a loud locker room afterward, knocking Geneva (17-6, 7-2) out of its tie with Lake Park at the top of the DuKane Conference standings.
"To be able to pull that out on the road with our teammates feels amazing," Chanthaboury said.
Chanthaboury (16 points, 7 rebounds) was part of a big three for the North Stars (15-10, 5-4) along with senior Emma Nawara (14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals) and junior Tatum Settelmyer (20 points, 6 rebounds).
It was Settelmyer who finally got the North Stars on the board four minutes into the game after a pair of Zosia Wrobel 3-pointers helped the Vikings jump to that 10-0 lead.
"You spot a great team like that 10 points and you think here we go again, it's going to be a long night," North Stars coach Mike Tomczak said. "You have a player like Launi who plays with such enthusiasm and positive energy, they followed her, and you could see that."
Geneva, playing without Colgate-bound senior Lindsay Blackmore (illness), kept clicking early in the second with a Kelly McCloughan runner, Kate Palmer's baseline drive, and a steal and breakaway layup by Grace Hinchman opening up their biggest lead at 16 points.
The North Stars answered with a 15-2 run to end the half to pull within 28-25.
"Our huddles were motivating and we knew we had them," Settelmyer said. "We don't give up then, we don't give up ever."
Talia Pellegrini started the third quarter with a layup and Settelmyer buried a 3 from the top of the key to give the North Stars their first lead at 30-28.
Geneva, who hit just 7 of 28 shots in the middle two quarters after making 8 of 19 in the first, trailed 40-37 going to the fourth quarter. Kate Montgomery tied the game with a 3, and an inside basket from Cassidy Arni made it 42-42 before the North Stars scored 12 straight.
Chanthaboury hit a 3, then got an off-balance layup to drop high off the backboard. She knocked down one more 3 in the surge while Settelmyer scored the other 4 points in the run for a 54-42 lead.
The Vikings forced 6 turnovers in the final three minutes and got as close as 59-54 on Hinchman's steal and layup.
"We played a good first quarter and that's about it," Vikings coach Sarah Meadows said. "We have to have more kids be offensive minded especially when we don't have Lindsay. We talked about everybody has to do more and in the first quarter we did that. Downhill from there."
Palmer (13 points), Montgomery (12 points, 4 steals), Arni (11 points), Wrobel (10 points) and Hinchman (10 rebounds, 4 steals) paced the Vikings.
"I thought we did a good job trying to fill in Lindsay's role but you can't fill in a role of that talented of a player," Montgomery said.
Pellegrini added 6 points for St. Charles North who has had more than its share of adversity to players like Emma Ludwig and Caroline Jakaitis.
"We've been banged up this year but the girls who have been here have stepped up and done a nice job," Tomczak said. "Regardless of who Geneva puts on the floor the five on the floor believe they are going to win the basketball game. Regardless of who is sick who is in who is out, you get a win on this court it means something."