Tri Cities captain: End of an amazing era for Geneva and Whitley
It's easy to picture Geneva girls basketball next year as it begins the post-Taylor Whitley era and count the reasons - some 2,000-plus - why the Vikings will miss their all-time leading scorer.
Only the reason at the top of that list might not even include Whitley's immense basketball skills.
Whitley, the 2009 captain of the Tri-Cities All-Area girls basketball team, does as much behind the scenes for the Vikings as she does on the court in front of all their fans. Her coach Gina Nolan said it is the all-out effort Whitley gives in practice that the other players notice, thereby raising the intensity and success throughout Nolan's entire program.
And it certainly is working, with Geneva's varsity team still unbeaten at 32-0 heading into tonight's Final Four matchup against Young at Redbird Arena, and their sophomore team not losing a game.
"The example she sets in practice each day with how hard she works all the time is something we'll miss," Nolan said. "Obviously what she does on the floor during games we'll miss. She's a special player that's for sure."
How hard Whitley and her teammates go in practice might explain part of the Vikings' amazing success this year.
"Our whole team goes hard in practice not just half-hearted," Whitley said. "Our whole team is so competitive it is always going to be an aggressive scrimmage or drill we are doing."
Quite a legacy
Whitley comes from an athletic family - her father Jim played golf at Miami of Ohio. She said she tried golf "but I'm not very good."
Luckily for her, she's got another sport to fall back on.
Whitley is a two-time Captain of the All-Area team. With two games still to play, she has scored 2,094 points, the most - by far - in school history.
Just as impressive as all those points is her team's record during Geneva's four years. On the same night Whitley broke 2,000 points her career against West Chicago on Feb. 18, the team won its 100th game with Whitley in the lineup. In her four years they are 90 games over .500, 104-14.
"My high school basketball has been one of the most fun things," Whitley said. "I'll remember all this the rest of my life."
Not surprisingly, Whitley has been on a roll when it matters most. She's scored 90 points in the team's five playoff wins, no fewer than 14 in any game. In the Class 4A Addison Trail sectional championship game last week against Lake Park, Whitley scored 25 to lead the Vikings to their first sectional title.
Overall, Whitley is averaging a career-best 20.5 points a game in her senior season.
"I've been so lucky to have Taylor on my team," Nolan said. "Not just the athlete she is but the player she is, the kid that she is. She's such a competitor yet she has such a compassionate, kind side that she wants to distribute to her teammates and see everybody do well."
Fellow senior Emily Hinchman is one of those teammates, one who has known Whitley since grade school when they played together before Whitley went to St. Peter's and Hinchman went to Geneva Middle School.
Back on the same team, in high school, Hinchman has had as good of view as any at Whitley's fierce play, her attacking style on both ends of the court that has led to countless steals on defense and assists on fastbreak baskets on offense.
"She does a lot of things well out there," Hinchman said. "She's a really good team player and a lot of fun to play with."
Hinchman pointed to Whitley's consistency as one of her best traits. Whitley has scored in double figures all but a handful of her 118 career games.
"She's really consistent," Hinchman said. "She's the player we can depend on in all of our games. She's really confident and we're confident in her too. We know she can get the job done and she can count on us too. Just a really good team player."
Whitley entered the program starting as a freshman, and seniors like Bailey Hansen, her sister Caty Whitley and Kelsey Ruitenberg helped Taylor make a smooth transition to varsity.
"I loved everyone on that team," Taylor Whitley said. "Those seniors always made me feel part of the team."
Now Whitley has taken on the leadership role, and it is making a difference on players like sophomore Kat Yelle, who had 20- and 25-point games last week at the Addison Trails sectional.
"I love the underclassmen on the team and try to be a leader," Whitley said.
"I look up to her so much," Yelle said. "She's a role model for me. I'm going to be really sad when she leaves. I love working with her."
Like Hinchman, Yelle is impressed not just with Whitley's basketball abilities but how she makes her teammates better.
"She's a court leader," Yelle said. "She's someone who boosts you up on the court and gets you fired up. Whenever you see her score it fires you up."
Four years of highlights
Whitley made an impact starting with her first game as a freshman against Morris, when she scored 11 points. She ended up averaging 12.9 points, 3 assists and 2 steals that year while helping Geneva win just its third regional title and advance all the way to the Addison Trail sectional championship game.
Whitley followed with an even more impressive sophomore season. She led the area in scoring at 19.6 points a game, winning MVP of the Western Sun Conference with a 21-point average in conference play. She broke the school record with 38 points in a game and scored 30 or more points four times.
By the time Whitley finished her junior year, she already held the school's all-time scoring record with 1,441 points. And she hasn't let up this year, going out with her best year statistically and the team's best run ever.
It's not just her own teammates and coaches who have been impressed.
"You've got to give her credit for being a productive part of their offense and team for four years," Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said. "That's hard to do, to step out there freshman year and be productive - and keep doing that all the way through.
"She has consistently increased her scoring every year and been able to keep that program as one of the tops in the area. That's what you have to give her credit for."
Unlike DeBruycker, Elk Grove coach Ryan Kirkorsky only coached against Whitley once - and that was more than enough.
"Whitley is just a basketball player," Kirkorsky said. "She knows how to draw contact, she knows how to get in the paint. When they need a big basket they get it in her hands and she gets to the paint and either gets fouled or makes the shot or both."
Whitley will continue her basketball career next fall at Indiana State, which she picked over other Division-I programs such as Northern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Cleveland State and Bradley.
"I loved the coaches, and the head coach is really intense," said Whitley, who also factored in academics for one of the main reasons, at the time of her decision.
But there's two games left to go at Geneva, two games to be played where every Illinois girls basketball player dreams of ending her career - Redbird Arena. She'll be on the same court next year as a visiting player at Indiana State.
"We've always wanted to and always said how awesome to get to state and now to get here is so cool," Whitley said. "We're so excited, we can't believe it. It's awesome."
The same could be said for Whitley's last four record-breaking years.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>All-Area basketball teams coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Cook County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276980">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276982">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276929">Captain: Ashley Wilson</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276927">Captain: Cully Payne</a></li> </ul> <h2>Cook PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/cook4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>DuPage County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276984">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276985">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276917">Captain: Toni Kokenis </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276915">Captain: Danny Crawford</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276916">Past girls captains</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276914">Past boys captains</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276931">The best of the girls season</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276930">The best of the boys season</a></li> </ul> <h2>DuPage PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/dupage4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Fox Valley</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276978">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276990">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276709">Captain: Kati Yohn </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276820">Captain: Marc Little</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276780">Captain: Conrad Krutwig</a></li> </ul> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/multimedia/?category=19&type=video&item=88">Fox Valley captains </a></li> </ul> <h2>Fox Valley PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/foxvalley5.pdf">Page 5 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Lake County</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276987">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276981">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276907">Captain: Lydia Bauer </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276908">Captain: Brandon Paul</a></li> </ul> <h2>Lake PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/lake4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> <h2>Tri Cities</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=276989">Girls team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276988">Boys team</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276904">Captain: Taylor Whitley </a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=276905">Captain: Jeremy D'Amico</a></li> </ul> <h2>Tri Cities PDF pages</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities1.pdf">Page 1 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities2.pdf">Page 2 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities3.pdf">Page 3 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities4.pdf">Page 4 </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/images/allareapdfs09/tricities5.pdf">Page 5 </a></li> </ul> <h2><A HREF="http://dailyherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=706057&CategoryID=5971">Purchase PDF page reprints</A></h2> </div> </div> </div>