Geneva advances to sectional final with strong finish

Turning 30 brings a wave of mixed emotions - often a chance to look back at the fun times while wondering how life can fly by so fast.

Who knew it also brought sweaty palms, racing heartbeats and knots in your stomach?

That's what the Geneva girls basketball team went through Monday night in the Class 4A Addison Trail sectional semifinals. Twelfth-seed Elk Grove had the unbeaten Vikings on the ropes until Geneva scored the game's final 9 points in the last 1:30 to win 66-57.

Geneva (30-0) kept its season alive in its first true test. If not for Taylor Whitley's 3-pointer at the buzzer, this would have been the Vikings' closet margin of victory this year, and it certainly is the only game in doubt in the final seconds.

"I'm so proud of the girls the way they responded," Geneva coach Gina Nolan. "I think people have questioned us all year how we would respond in a close game and I think the girls definitely responded tonight. We had a lot of adversity with foul trouble and not the best shooting night."

Elk Grove junior Ashley Capotosto caused most that foul trouble, sending Geneva's twin 6-footers Kelsey Augustine and Lauren Wicinski to the bench with 3 and 2 first-qurter fouls, respectively. Capotosto wound up getting to the free-throw line 18 times, sinking 16, in a dominating 34-point, 14-rebound night.

Capotosto's final two free throws came with 1:50 remaining and tied the game at 57. Elk Grove (16-12) held its only second half lead two minutes earlier, 55-54, when Olivia Roback hit a pair of free throws.

Tied at 57, Geneva got the ball in the hands of its star, Indiana State-bound senior Taylor Whitley. She drove in the lane, drew contact and made the basket.

Whitley missed the free throw, but Elk Grove wasn't able to get Capotosto the ball on its next possession, missing a 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining. Geneva's Kat Yelle increased Geneva's lead to 60-57 with a free throw.

Elk Grove had handled Geneva's diamond press pretty well all night, with 14 turnovers to that point, only to break down in the final 30 seconds with turnovers on its final four possessions.

Three more free throws by Yelle and Whitley's 3-pointer made the 9-point final margin misleading.

"I'm extremely proud of the effort my kids showed," Elk Grove's first-year coach Ryan Kirkorsky said. "We didn't back down from the challenge. I liked that our kids stepped in and didn't care about the other team's record and what the seeds were. They just came to play."

That was evident early. In its first two regional wins, Geneva opened with 14-0 and 13-0 leads. Monday, it was Elk Grove that went up 7-0, with Capotosto scoring twice.

"I was just really focused," said Capotosto, a junior who Nolan called the best player she's coached against this year. "This is the first time Elk Grove has done this well in a season, it meant a lot to me, it meant a lot to my team to advance. We thought we were going to do it."

Geneva quickly tied the game at 7 on Yelle's 3-pointer, part of a 15-point first half and 20-point game for the sophomore. The Vikings didn't take their first lead until midway through the second quarter, then extended it to 38-31 at halftime.

But the Vikings struggled with 8 turnovers in the third quarter, allowing Elk Grove to close within 44-40 and set the stage for the nail-biting finish.

"We were with them the whole game," Capotosto said. "Even halftime being down we were like, 'We can do this, we need to pick it up second half.' We did. It hurts to lose like that."

Whitley finished with 18 points, 7 assists and 5 steals. Emily Hinchman added 13 points and Sam Dudman scored 8 first-half points off the bench, giving Geneva a needed boost with Wicinski and Augustine in foul trouble.

As for hitting 30? There will be plenty of time to look back at all the wins so far. All that matters now is getting one more, Thursday night back at Addison Trail against No. 3 seed Lake Park, and winning their first sectional title.

"I thought we really played as a team toward the end in crunch time," Whitley said. "We all did our part to pull it out."