Shorthanded Geneva stymies Wheaton North
After taking about as tough a blow imaginable, Geneva delivered one right back.
On the eve of playing Wheaton North in the Class 4A Hoffman Estates sectional semifinals Monday, the Vikings found out their leading scorer Lindsay Blackmore will miss the rest of the season with a broken wrist she suffered Thursday against Batavia.
The Falcons took advantage early, leading 16-5 after the first quarter.
But Geneva dug deep, especially on the defensive end, and got a huge effort off the bench from freshman Cassidy Arni. The Vikings held Wheaton North scoreless the next 12 minutes to take control in a 50-38 victory.
"She's such a big part of our team we all knew we had to step up and I know I had to step up too and do it for her," Arni said of Blackmore, who played on Geneva's two state championship teams in 2017 and 2018 and has been their leading scorer the past two years.
"We just started off slow and the second quarter we knew we had to start playing better."
No. 1 seed Geneva (25-6) will play No. 3 Lake Park (24-8) for the sectional championship at 7 p.m. Thursday. The teams split their DuKane Conference games and tied for the conference title.
"Our kids are just gamers," Vikings coach Sarah Meadows said. "You put a challenge in front of them and they want it and they go get it. And they do everything they can to get it."
No. 4 seed Wheaton North (20-7) hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter by Caroline Gaither, Claire Hyde and Ellie Hubbard while the Vikings struggled adjusting to playing without Blackmore.
Geneva senior Grace Hinchman opened the second quarter by driving and finding Zosia Wrobel in the corner for a 3-pointer. Arni scored twice including drawing Hyde's third foul to give Geneva its first lead at 17-16.
The Falcons missed all 10 of their shots and had 7 turnovers, and Hinchman capped a 16-0 quarter with a drive for a 21-16 halftime lead.
"We just got after it," junior Kate Palmer said. "Sectional semifinal, playoffs, you give it all you've got. That's exactly what we did. We knew coming into this game defense was going to be what was going to win it for us."
Rachel Brady finally ended the scoreless drought and a 20-0 Geneva run with an inside score at the 4:07 mark of the third quarter.
The Vikings took their biggest lead at 34-22 on a fluke shot by Arni. About 23 feet from the basket, Arni tried to throw a lob to Palmer inside. The ball slipped out of her hands - and ended up going in the basket for a 3-pointer.
Hyde made an equally big shot for the Falcons moments later, stealing the ball and banking in a half-courter at the third quarter buzzer to make it 34-27.
That changed the momentum. Julia Simon, who finished with 7 steals, caused a couple Geneva turnovers, and she also hit a 3 on a feed from Hyde to make it 36-33. Hyde's 2 free throws with 5:06 to go got Wheaton North within 36-35.
Geneva struggled with Wheaton North's pressure at times. But the Vikings also were able to make the Falcons pay, getting the ball to Kelly McCloughan at the free-throw line who was then able to find a teammate down low. She did that to Arni with the lead down to one, putting the Vikings up 38-35 and starting a 12-3 run to win the game going away. Palmer hit all 4 of her free throws and scored on a perfect pass from Arni in the stretch.
Palmer finished with 10 points, second only to Arni's 22. Arni also led Geneva with 6 rebounds.
"She's capable of that for sure," Meadows said.
"I told her I had a feeling she was going to have a big game and she came out ready to go," Palmer said. "So proud of her."
McCloughan (6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals), Hinchman (5 points, 4 rebounds) and Wrobel (7 points, 3 rebounds) all helped overcome Blackmore's loss - and will have to continue going forward.
"She's a huge piece of us and everybody knows it," Meadows said. "Everyone just has to do a little more. She's the biggest cheerleader now on the bench. It's too bad to end her career that way. She's beat up and hurt about it."
Hyde led Wheaton North with 13 points. Hubbard added 10, Simon 5 and Brady had 4 points and 6 rebounds.
"We struggled to score there obviously," Falcons coach Dave Eaton said. "Just couldn't get anything going. Their defense is great, they kept us out of things we wanted to do. Their kids played great and you have to give credit to them especially without Blackmore. They stepped up and played great."