Geneva making a habit of close calls
The Geneva girls basketball team had two super-close games last week.
The first one was last Tuesday against Western Sun Conference opponent Kaneland, and the Vikings won 65-64 in overtime.
Four days later, the Vikings traveled to St. Charles East, where the Saints beat them 44-42 in nonconference action in another game where Geneva trailed most of the way and made a comeback at the end.
Geneva coach Gina Nolan had this to say about the Kaneland game: "That was pressure you can't simulate in practice. I'm just so proud of the way they hung together and stuck with it emotionally."
The loss against St. Charles East dropped the young Vikings to 12-5.
"We are young and still figuring out the correct combinations of people and who is the right defensive person for us," Nolan said. "We are being challenged every time, which is great. We are doing some great things, but we have to be a little more consistent."
Geneva's leader, Taylor Whitley, has been consistent all year, and the third-year starting junior guard has attracted the attention of several Division I coaches.
Coaches from Bradley and Cleveland State witnessed Whitley's game-high 25 points and game-winning shot against Kaneland, but several other schools have shown interest, mainly from the Missouri Valley and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences.
Kaneland:ŒEven though the Knights have lost to Geneva twice this season, there was a huge improvement from the first time they played the Vikings in mid-December to the second time in early January.
The first time, Geneva beat Kaneland 61-27; the second time, the Vikings came out on top in overtime.
It was a physical and exhausting game in which both teams fought until the end.
"Every girl in the locker room wanted this one but I don't consider this a moral victory. We just didn't play well that first game," Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. "I'm just really happy with the effort they gave us. If we keep playing like this, we are going to win some games. It's an improvement and they see it. Hopefully, it's a sign of things to come."
Junior Katie Hatch came up big for the Knights, as she recorded one of her best games of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
"Katie has been playing great for us," Colombe said. "She's improved every day in practice and she's one of our hardest workers. This is her third year on varsity, so she really wants to finish off junior year strong and come back next year and have a strong season."
Hatch leads the Knights in this year at 8.7 points and 5.8 rebounds a game.
Defense was also a strong suit against the Vikings, as Kaneland recorded 15 steals, led by Sara Rose's 8. Rose leads the team in steals at 2.8 spg.
"I'm going to give (assistant coach Tom Dillivan) credit for that," Colombe said. "He works with the girls on defense in practice. We've worked on two things a lot lately -- taking care of the ball and defense. One thing we want to cut down on is our fouls. We are working on that, but we are playing smarter."
St. Charles East: Who will the Saints be led by next game?
Perhaps Lexi Baltes? Maybe Jaime Rust. Could the next leader be Tasha Lalos?
It's a great thing, according to St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra, to have any of the starters capable of stepping up and having a big game.
"That's wonderful, I love it," Drumtra said. "I don't mind having a different person step up each quarter."
That's what happened in the Saints' game against Geneva. Baltes, Lalos and Rust each had big quarters that led the team to the win that placed them at 12-7 this year.
"I like where we are at," Drumtra said.
"It's huge," Baltes said of beating Geneva. "We know this is a good team in the area, so we came out a little more pumped up. We knew what we had to get done and got it done."
Drumtra called the win over the Vikings a "benchmark." The Saints will be challenged yet again this Saturday, when they take on Upstate Eight Conference rival St. Charles North Saturday on Hall of Fame Day.