Keys to Geneva's perfect start began with last year's finish

To start to understand how the Geneva girls basketball team got to this point in the season - an undefeated 24-0 record through Wednesday - it's best to look how last year ended.

The Vikings made it through the regular season at 20-6, but it wasn't the typical completely satisfying 20-win season. Three of those losses came to Batavia, which denied Geneva the Western Sun Conference title.

Luckily for the Vikings, while the third time wasn't the charm against the Bulldogs, they got a fourth crack. Geneva delivered, beating Batavia 69-50 in the Class 4A Bartlett regional semifinals.

Last year's Vikings were a young group, and then-sophomores Lauren Wicinski and Kelsey Augustine, plus then-juniors Emily Hinchman and Taylor Whitely, all gained a lot of confidence at the close of the year.

"They really started to gel at the end of last season," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "At regional they played the best they had all season long. Finally we had the pieces together of younger kids fitting in."

Geneva's confidence only grew this summer. The Vikings traveled to the Purdue team camp, where they took their best shots against some top teams throughout the Midwest even while their star suffered a painful blow.

Geneva beat Bolingbrook, last year's Class 4A runner-up, before Whitley went down with a broken nose and missed the last two games at Purdue. Still, the experience was invaluable to the team believing just how much it could accomplish this year. So too was playing Marian tight at a Northern Illinois shootout.

"We did some really good things this summer," Nolan said. "I think things like that kids started believing what we can do. I think it was a good experience for us to start believing in ourselves."

Believing is one thing, producing is another. Geneva has done that all year, not only 24-0 but with 23 of those wins by at least 14 points.

For the most part, players and coaches say they are surprised to get to this point in the season without a loss.

"It's really exciting, it's really great, to be (24-0) is awesome," Augustine said. "I thought over the summer we played really well. We didn't expect to have this record. I don't think we expected to be this good."

"I never imagined undefeated but I felt we were going to have a good chemistry and a good mix of kids," Nolan said.

Whitley agrees and just wants to make sure Geneva doesn't let up.

"I'm just happy with how we are playing and hopefully we can keep it up and just keep playing like we are," Whitley said. "I didn't really think about it (being undefeated) but it's great. We can only hope we keep playing like we are."

There's numerous reasons for the success, and it starts with the way the team plays together, complements each other's skills and encourages each other to be better.

"We have a great group of kids," Nolan said. "They are incredibly competiive, they get along incredibly well."

Individually, it starts with Whitley, the Indiana-State bound-senior guard who has rewritten the Geneva record books.

"We all worked really hard this summer, and in practice we all trying really hard and don't slack off so I guess it shows on the court we work really hard," Whitley said.

Whitley averages 20.6 points a game, tops in the area. She's also getting 2.8 steals and 2.9 assists a game while shooting 75 percent from the free-throw line.

But she's got plenty of help. Wicinski is averaging 12 points and a team-high 6 rebounds, an increase from her 9.2 scoring average last year.

In fact, the numbers are up across the board, another sign of how last year's young team has come into its own. Hinchman is scoring 9.5 points a game, three more than last year. Kat Yelle's 7.3 average almost doubles her 3.8 last season.

No one has improved more than Sam Dudman, who comes off to score 6.5 points a game, teamming with Sam Scofield to give Geneva one more important piece to the puzzle - depth.

Other coaches know to slow down Geneva isn't just to stop Whitley.

"Taylor is a fantastic player, but it takes their whole team," Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda said. "Their whole team has to get her open, their whole team has to find her when she is open. You try to play team defense instead of focusing on one kid. Last time we kind of stopped Taylor and Hinchman stepped up. They've got a lot of weapons and a tough team to play against."

Geneva also has the combination of good inside-outside play. Augustine is a terror with blocked shots and steals while helping on the boards and teams with Wicinscki to give Geneva two players whose futures are in volleyball a strong front-line.

Both juniors are keeping up with volleyball, playing in tournaments on Saturdays when it doesn't interfere with basketball. Whitley, for one, sure knows the value of having those two also playing basketball.

"They get great rebounds all the time, you can count on them for great dishes, and they are great all-around players," Whitley said. "We're lucky to have them."

Meanwhile, the backcourt is in good hands, not just Whitley but Hinchman and Yelle, who average 3.4 and 2.9 assists and 3.0 and 2.1 steals, respectively. They are key in leading Geneva's up-tempo game that averages x points a game.

"We focus a lot on moving the ball around, we talk about quick ball movement," Nolan said. "We have had an opportunity this year to get an inside-outside game going.

So how long will the undefeated run last? Batavia certainly plans to have something to say about it when the teams meet to close the regular season next Friday at Batavia.

Before that the Vikings host DeKalb tonight, the only team that has stayed within 10 points of Geneva all year. Geneva also plays at Bartlett Saturday.

However long the undefeated season lasts, Geneva is enjoying it. They aren't dwelling on it, overly concerned about or worrying about the streak ending.

They are just glad they've built on the momentum to close last year and play the kind of high-level basketball this season that produces a 24-0 record.

"We don't talk about it," Nolan said. "They are really loose as a group. We take the court like we are 0-0 every time."