Geneva puts away St. Charles East
Memo to Upstate Eight River teams: The high-quality manufacturing plant that is the Geneva girls basketball program is at it again.
Just when it appeared that this somehow might be a weaker version of Geneva this season, Viking center Grace Loberg went on her own 9-point tear early in the fourth quarter to help the host Vikings dispatch a scrappy St. Charles East squad 65-52 Friday night in an Upstate Eight River Division contest.
The victory kept Geneva (12-2, 4-0) atop the conference standings, but more importantly illustrated that the Vikings still have the ability to suddenly make a close game not look so close.
Geneva held a 44-42 lead going into the fourth quarter of a game that had 11 lead changes and six ties up to that point. Loberg made sure her team kept things close by blocking 7 East shots.
After Stephanie Hart opened the quarter for Geneva with a baseline jumper, Loberg, a 6-2 junior center, scored off a steal. Another steal started by her blocked shot resulted in a Loberg putback and 3-point play.
To finish off her run, Loberg made 2 free throws and scored on a power move inside, finishing the game with a team-high 13 points and putting the Saints suddenly behind 55-42.
“I wasn't very aggressive on offense in the first half, but when Sara (Rosenfeldt) got into foul trouble, we started to force it inside a little more,” Loberg said. “She's a very dominant player for them.”
Rosenfeldt led the Saints with 13 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
“In the fourth quarter I felt like we really started to play defense, and we hadn't played defense until then,” Geneva coach Sara Meadows said. “It has been a problem all season and I told the girls we have to have more effort and be more mentally strong on defense.”
Sophomore guards Margaret Whitley (12 points) and Madeline Yelle (11 points) gave the Vikings a boost with outside shooting and strong moves to the basket.
“I thought Maddie played one of the best games I have seen her play so far,” Meadows said. “She was strong in all parts of her game.”
Yelle said she was simply following orders. “Coach always tells us to hustle and try to get on the floor after loose balls as much as we can,” Yelle said. “The little things can mean so much more.”
For three quarters, St. Charles East (6-10, 3-2) duked it out at center ring with Geneva. The Saints jumped to a 9-2 lead to open the game and had a 17-15 lead after one quarter when Sammie Munroe (11 points) knocked down a trey at the buzzer.
The teams traded baskets most of the second quarter, but Geneva's Briana Borkowicz hit a 3-pointer for a 30-27 lead that Rosenfeldt closed to a point by scoring in the lane as the half came to a close.
While the Saints stayed close through the third period behind Kelly Rinker's two 3-pointers, they got into foul trouble when Munroe picked up her third and Hannah Vitkus, who had 7 rebounds, picked up her fourth.
“We just went cold,” St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra said of her team's quiet fourth quarter. “They went to a zone and forced us to take outside shots that we didn't hit. They are a good rebounding team, so you don't get a lot of second chances.”
The Saints have to work on “playing a full game and finishing,” Drumtra added.
“We wanted to be in the game at the start of the fourth quarter and we were,” Drumtra said. “But it is hard to go up against number 10 (Loberg), she was swatting away our shots like flies.”
Geneva enjoyed a 31-25 rebounding edge, with Loberg and Taylor Williams corralling 5 each. Rosenfeldt had a game-high 8 rebounds for the Saints.
Geneva had only 9 turnovers in the game, while the Saints committed 19.
“We have similar teams, and it was a good matchup, but it is good for us to beat them,” Loberg said.