Geneva 68, Glenbard South 67

The Geneva boys basketball team certainly hasn't lacked for close games this season.

So maybe it wasn't so surprising when Glenbard South turned a potential double-digit blowout for the Vikings into another nail-biter Friday.

With a seemingly insurmountable 15-point lead one minute into the fourth quarter, Geneva appeared poised for victory, only to see Glenbard South come all the way back -- and take the lead briefly on two occasions -- before the Vikings escaped with a pulse-pounding 68-67 win in a Western Sun Conference matchup.

"It was good to pay them back," said Geneva's Max Cary, referring to a 1-point win by Glenbard South over the Vikings in a Nov. 30 matchup in Glen Ellyn.

Cary hit both ends of a one-and-one with 9.6 seconds left for what proved to be the winning margin as a wild, 23-footer by Will Hill sailed off the mark in the waning seconds.

Cary finished with a game-high 26 points, but none were more important than his 25th -- the first free throw leading to the bonus. His shot tap danced for several seconds atop the rim before trickling into the cylinder, much to the home crowd's delight.

"My heart stopped when I saw it rattling around up there," Cary said. "It felt like it hung there forever. It was a big relief when it finally went in. The second one went down easy."

After a timeout, Glenbard South (8-8, 4-4) inbounded at halfcourt but Geneva's defense was impenetrable, forcing the Raiders to heave a less-than-desirable shot.

Few could have envisioned such a finish after Geneva (13-6, 7-2) closed the third quarter with a 10-3 run for a sizable, 55-41 lead entering the fourth.

But after Cary hit an NBA-length 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth, Glenbard South took over completely., scoring 16 unanswered points over the next five minutes. Hill scored 7 of his 13 points during the spurt, and Andy Manson --held without a field goal since the first quarter -- erupted for three basket in the paint in short order.

Hill drove the baseline and scored with 2:30 as Glenbard went up 59-58, its first lead since midway through the first quarter.

"We had gone into a zone defense to protect some of our guys who were in foul trouble, and I think that had a lot to do with their comeback," Geneva coach Tim Pease said. "Surprisingly, they were able to penetrate that and get right to the basket -- exactly what I didn't want to happen. Next thing you know, they're up one on us."

After its five-minute drought, Geneva finally came to life when Cary found Jeremy D'Amico (13 points) underneath for a three-point play. On the next possession, Alex Turnowchyk (23 points) drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the night for a 64-59 Geneva lead with 1:49 left.

Brian Smith (8 points) and Jordan Harks (12 points) each hit a pair of free throws in the next 30 seconds, but Cary responded with a finger-roll layup for a 66-63 Geneva lead with 1:11 remaining.

Louis Erkins (11 points) responded with a driving layup and then, on Geneva's ensuing possession, Manson (16 points) came up with a key shot block that led to Hill's go-ahead basket -- a layup in traffic with 18 seconds left-- for a 67-66 lead by Glenbard before Cary put the game's final points on the board.

"We got passive when they were coming back on us, and that's not who we are as a team," Pease said. "We stopped running and trapping, and lo and behold, it became a close game all of a sudden. We have to play aggressively for the entire game."