St. Charles East's Scott hits 3 pointer to sink Geneva in final seconds

As Saturday night's game between Geneva and St. Charles East moved into the final quarter, Saints' senior guard Zach Scott had a feeling it was headed for a photo finish.

"We've had situations where we've lost games that have come down to the wire," Scott said. "We just had to fight to the end and not flinch."

Though Scott later admitted that he's had the ball in his hands for crucial shots in the past, and missed some, on this night it was all good. Scott's game_winner, a long 3-pointer from just left of center in the closing seconds, barely made a ripple as it passed through the net, but it sent a shock wave through the already fired up home crowd.

"It felt good when it left my hand, I was pretty sure it was money," Scott said. "What we did tonight speaks to how well we can play when everyone on the team steps up."

It was an appropriate conclusion to a game that had been tight throughout, though the outcome represented a much needed change for the Saints (5-14).

"We've been in a lot of these games, and we finally won one," St. Charles East coach Brian Clodi said. "This is a big confidence builder for us."

The first quarter began like a lot of Geneva's other games. The Vikings grabbed an 8-2 lead. But when St. Charles East's Kevin Senechalle drained a 3-pointer it sent a message that despite their near opposite won-loss records the Saints were not going to be intimidated.

"(St. Charles East) is a significantly improved team and much better than their record suggests," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said.

But Geneva (16-5) is a tough, physical team, and the Viking defense stymied the Saints much of the time. The Vikings led 18-16 at the break, and could have been up by more as St. Charles East got all of its first half scoring from Jess Striedl and Senechalle.

"At times I thought our defense was spectacular," Ralston said. "We had some chances to put the game away and we didn't do it."

As the third quarter wound to a close, Scott provided an omen of what was to come, nailing a pair of 3-pointers to pull his team to within a single point, 28-27.

The Saints took a 1-point lead when Senechalle scored off the inbounds pass to start the fourth quarter. But Geneva's Jeremy D'Amico responded by hitting back-to-back 3s. "D'Amico is such a special player," Clodi said. "He's a tough matchup for anybody."

After Scott hit another one from beyond the arc, the Saints were dealt a blow when Striedl fouled out just after he'd knocked down a turnaround jumper to tie the game at 34-34.

Clodi called on Tim Russell to take over for Striedl, and all the forward did was bury a pair of 3s, giving the Saints their biggest lead, 40-36, midway through the fourth quarter.

"I really wanted to make an impact," Russell said. "Coach told me he was going to bet the house on my shot going in. That felt great."

The game could've ended with the Saints opening a comfortable lead, hitting a few free throws, and dribbling out the final seconds. But Geneva's Sean Grady had another ending in mind, and his effort in the final two minutes included an assist, a steal, and a gut-check drive to the hoop.

"Sean was a sparkplug tonight," Ralston said. "He gave us a chance to win."

Grady's layup gave Geneva a 44-42 lead with just under a minute left. The Saints worked the ball around, nearly losing it once, then called a timeout with 17.5 seconds.

"We drew up exactly what happened, it was a flare screen for (Scott)," Clodi said. "It's a play we run and (Senechalle) made a great pass, (Russell) set a great screen, and it was obviously the play of the game."

The Vikings had one final chance to win the game, getting the ball back with 5.5 seconds on the clock. But D'Amico was swarmed by four Saints, and his final shot wasn't close.

"They hit tough shots and they deserved to win," Ralston said. "We just didn't execute as well offensively as I thought we should have."