Geneva 86, Sycamore 84
If Geneva boys basketball coach Tim Pease was looking for a way his team could gain momentum and confidence heading into regional play in next week's state tournament, he couldn't have asked for a better script than the one his Vikings put together Friday night in Sycamore.
Down by 10 points with just over four minutes left in the final Western Sun Conference game of the season, the Vikings survived with a stirring 86-84 comeback victory sealed with a defensive stand in the game's final seconds.
With 9 seconds left and the home team looking to tie or win, Max Cary poked the ball loose from Spartan guard Will Strack. The ball rolled to Sycamore's Mike Buckner, who tried to fire a pass inside to 6-7 center Ryan Friel, but Geneva's Chris Jordan tipped the ball to teammate Alex Turnowchyk as the final 2 seconds ran off the clock.
"With what we have done most recently the last couple of weeks (some difficult setbacks), I was very proud of the kids to decide together that they could get this done and they weren't out of it," a relieved Pease said.
A tight first half that featured 15 lead changes and seven ties before Geneva (9-5, 16-11) went to the locker room with a 39-34 halftime lead, led to an improbable second half.
The Vikings enjoyed a 10-point lead at 49-39 early in the third quarter, but Sycamore (11-12, 3-10) roared back behind six three-point bombs to eventually forge its own 10-point margin at 74-64 late in the fourth.
Cary tallied a game-high 25 points to offset the blazing hands of Sycamore's Josh Howells, who had a team-high 23 points fueled by 6-of-7 shooting from the three-point arc.
While Cary and Howells staged a shootout, they each had plenty of support. Turnowchyk added 19 points and Jordan 18 for Geneva, while Sycamore got 13 points each from Friel, Strack and Kortney Hunter.
Cary said he was cautious in the final defensive sequence, making sure he wouldn't get called for a foul when he made the play that disrupted Sycamore's last chance.
"He kind of showed the ball, and I took a little poke at it," Cary said. "I didn't want to totally commit, because I didn't want him to go right by me, or get called for a foul."
A switch to a half-court trap helped Geneva claw back after a Howells layup with 4:30 left gave Sycamore its 10-point edge. Two steals resulted in four points for Turnowchyk, then Cary hit two 3-pointers and Turnowchyk added another during a blitz that gave Geneva a 79-76 lead with 2:08 left. Jordan gave Geneva a boost in the final minutes by sinking two free throws and scoring an offensive rebound of his own miss for the 86-84 lead after Sycamore's Shane Carnahan had tied the score with two free throws.
Sycamore coach Jim Hillmer bemoaned his team's turnovers and shot selection down the stretch, but overall felt his team gave an excellent effort.
"I think their trap was a little something different and I thought we adjusted well, but we did pass up some shots and got a little tentative down the stretch," Hillmer said. "But it was a great game."
Pease was impressed with Sycamore's effort, especially its outside shooting.
"They were outstanding and they have terrific shooters and great scorers on that team," Pease said. "But we were looking for some momentum tonight, and I think we got a little."