Vikings know how to put teams away
Aside from maybe Mike Tyson in his prime, can you remember anyone who delivers a knockout punch quite like the Geneva girls basketball team?
There is Lake Park, the underdog in the Class 4A Addison Trail sectional championship game, doing everything it can to claw back into it.
The Lancers trailed all night, by as many as 13 in the second quarter, but when Devin Johnston scores with six minutes left in the third quarter, they are within 33-29.
Then boom. Taylor Whitley drives and finds Kat Yelle open for 3. Seven-point lead.
Lookout, here comes another blow. Yelle steals the ball and feeds Whitley for a layup. Up 9.
Better duck. It's Kelsey Augustine inside forcing another Lake Park turnover, setting up Emily Hinchman flying down the court for a layup. Geneva by 11.
Then bam! Yelle steals it again and makes 2 free throws. Vikings ahead by 13.
"We were all about pressure and defense tonight and keep plugging away and don't give up on anything," Whitley said.
From a 4-point lead to 13 points in a mere two minutes.
"They can strike real fast," Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said. "Their guards are outstanding and they can flat-out shoot. If you leave someone open they'll make you pay for it. They can rattle off 10 points real quickly."
After that third quarter barrage, Lake Park never got within 9 points again. And when it did, the Vikings threw another big punch, this one a 12-2 burst to go ahead by 19 and start making travel plans to Loyola University Monday night and the first supersectional game in school history.
"We've been fortunate to have that happen a few times this season," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "I think it's a tribute to our defense. Our defense is what makes that happen and it has been the spark for our offense most of the year. With our speed and so many girls contribute that gives us the weapons to build a lead quickly and get points on the board in a short amount of time. Let's hope we can keep it going." The way Geneva looked Thursday, never trailing and tied just once, it's not hard to picture them going to Normal next weekend for the Class 4A state semifinals.
One team - New Trier - stands between the 31-0 Vikings and that goal. However that game ends, and the Vikings are going to do everything they can to make it a W, nobody can take away what this team accomplished Thursday becoming the first one ever to win a sectional.
"School history and we beat it today, that is just awesome, that is just the greatest accomplishment in basketball we could have done so far," an estatic Lauren Wicinski said. "And we're going to keep going."
Kelsey Augustine got the first assignment and Wicinski took turns in holding Lake Park's Michigan-bound Samantha Arnold to 13 points.
Arnold hit 10 of 15 3-pointers, one more than Whitley, as both standouts advanced to the state finals of the 3-point showdown. But once the game started, Arnold couldn't hit anything from long range, finishing 1 of 8 on 3-pointers.
"She's an excellent player," Wicinski said. "We watched her on film and were just prepared. We knew what she did and we stopped her from what she is used to doing."
More than just Geneva's post players, the entire team was aware of Arnold and didn't let her get going. That team play is what has pleased Nolan the most
"The kids are playing well together," Nolan said. "I think that's what I'm most proud of is how well they play as a team. They count on each other, they look for each other. It's nice to see.
"We wanted to play our game and run them. It feeds into our strengths if we can play a quicker game. One of our hopes was to wear them down a little and I think we might have, especially in the end. We'll have to rest up to do it again Monday night."
Look out New Trier. Geneva packs a mighty punch, and the Vikings can't wait to deliver it again.
jlemon@dailyherald.com