Miller, Glenbard North surprise Geneva
Leah Miller gave herself an early Thanksgiving gift Thursday night in Lombard.
The Glenbard North sophomore guard drilled five 3-pointers in making her 7 shots from in the floor to stake the Panthers to a 15-point halftime lead over Geneva in the championship game of the Rachel Bach Tournament at Glenbard East.
Miller scored 19 of her game-high 22 points in the first half as Glenbard North pulled out the surprise 60-57 victory. Geneva made it interesting until the end as star center Grace Loberg watched her desperation shot from midcourt hit off the backboard as time expired.
Miller hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and added two in the second quarter. The Panthers (5-1) needed it all as the Vikings mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback in cutting an 18-point fourth quarter deficit to a one-possession game.
"My teammates were helping me to get open for those 3s," Miller said. "They were giving me confidence. In the second half (Geneva) started playing up on me much more."
Zakiya Newsome provided strong support by scoring 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter that helped offset the Vikings' outstanding shooting in the quarter.
"We knew (Miller) could shoot," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said, "but we didn't know she could shoot without missing. She had 19 points at halftime, and we had 17 as a team.
"We finally started playing with six minutes to go in the game."
Newsome nailed a shot at the third-quarter buzzer for the Panthers' largest lead, 44-26. Geneva (3-1) turned its fortunes around with some blistering outside shooting. The Vikings converted six-of-eight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter in scoring a stunning 31 points.
Margaret Whitley scored all 12 of her points in the second half. Ashley Shogren drilled three 3-pointers for her total. Despite struggling with foul trouble the entire game, Loberg scored a team-high 14 points. Stephanie Hart added 11 points.
Newsome made two free throws with 1.6 seconds for the final margin.
"After they started hitting all those 3s we started getting a little nervous," Miller said. "But then we played like we did at the start to win the game."