Geneva never looks back in win over Lake Park
Faced with uncharted water, Geneva did what it always does.
The Vikings won.
Claiming the first sectional title in program history and staying perfect through 31 games this season, Geneva's girls basketball team beat Lake Park 70-47 in Thursday's Class 4A Addison Trail sectional championship game.
The Vikings (31-0) advance to the Loyola University supersectional to play New Trier, a 43-37 winner over Loyola, in a 7:30 p.m. Monday game in Chicago. A win on Monday sends Geneva to Normal and the Final Four.
"Since last summer this team has had a bigger vision," said Geneva coach Gina Nolan. "Goals and hopes of making it farther than any team has ever done in Geneva history. We've done that now, but that's not the end of the road."
Top-seeded Geneva - as the case has been for most of the season - never trailed the No. 3 Lancers (26-6), who were vying for their first sectional crown since 2003, and 6-foot-3 Michigan-bound senior Samantha Arnold,
At both ends of the court the Vikings seemed to come at Lake Park from all angles, using their relentless pressure defense to force 9 first-quarter turnovers as they broke out to a 14-4 lead.
The Lancers finally got their game going late in the second quarter after falling behind by as many as 13 points. They closed the half on a 12-4 run to pull within 29-24 at the break.
After the Lancers narrowed the gap to 33-29 on a Devin Johnston bucket early in the third quarter, Geneva hit Lake Park with a decisive 9-0 run to seize a 42-29 lead. Again, the Vikings' pressure hammered the Lancers into 9 third-quarter turnovers.
"You have to give them a lot of credit: very talented, very quick," said Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling, whose team was the first in program history to go unbeaten in the Upstate Eight Conference. "Super proud of our girls and our seniors. I can't thank them enough."
Leading 45-34 after three quarters, 6 straight points from Kat Yelle helped Geneva push its advantage to 55-36 midway through the final frame.
Yelle and Taylor Whitley scored 25 points apiece for the Vikings. Yelle also added 6 steals while Whitley had 7 rebounds.
"We're just really happy with how we played," Indiana State-bound Whitley said. "Everyone is so pumped we can't believe it. First time in Geneva history."
In the final game of her stellar high-school career, Arnold finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. Johnston added 10 points for the Lancers.
The Vikings used their tremendous quickness to collapse on Arnold much of the game. Lauren Wicinski and Kelsey Augustine contributed fine defensive play in the post.
"We didn't see a press like that all season," Arnold said. "We didn't get into (our half-court offense)."