Looking back, looking ahead after unforgettable season

NORMAL - When coach Gina Nolan pulled Taylor Whitley with 28 seconds left Saturday night in the Vikings' 59-40 loss to Wheeling in the Class 4A third-place game, the Geneva fans rose for one more standing ovation.

Whitley, who leaves with 2,131 career points, sat on the bench with her head in her hands while the final seconds ticked away.

"I was just sad for playing four years on varsity and it was your last high school game ever," Whitley said. "It's just a sad thing to think about."

Whitley also knew the only two losses in a 32-2 season won't take away from an unforgettable weekend at Illinois State - a sentiment shared by all her teammates.

"It was an unbelievable experience I'll never forget," junior Lauren Wicinski said. "Just that we made it down here is unbelievable. I'm just so proud of the girls."

"We like the support so much from back home, it makes us realize the great things we have done," senior Emily Hinchman said. "They are so proud of us. We didn't get the best results but I know we played with so much heart. I was proud of everyone."

Sophomore Kat Yelle said her favorite part of the weekend was playing at Redbird Arena.

"I really loved the arena," Yelle said. "I loved playing on the big court and I loved the atmosphere, running on the court for the first time."

After the beatings Geneva gave teams this year, you can bet there are some looking forward to payback in the post-Whitley era. That might not be such a good idea.

Yes, there might be no more Whitley - at least Taylor Whitley - but if opponents think that means their chance to get even with Geneva, they could be in for a rude awakening. Yelle looks like she'll be able to do many of the things Whitley did so well. Geneva will bring back both of its 6-foot post players, Wicinski and Kelsey Augustine. Then there's talented reserves like Sam Dudman, Sammy Scofield and Myra Yelle, all of whom will have bigger roles.

And you can throw a sophomore team that went undefeated, which included Taylor's sister Kelley, into that mix.

Bright days indeed.

"We do have a lot of talent coming back," Kat Yelle said. "People are going to come up and fill some shoes because Taylor and Emily are awesome. We're just really going to miss them. We're going to have to prove ourselves next year. We're going to have to prove ourselves again like we did this year."

Wicinski sounded like she wanted to start practice Monday.

"I'm ready for next year. We're going to work our butts off to get back here. Now we put ourselves on the map. "Who's Geneva?" Now they know. That's great."

And their No. 1 fan rooting them on? That would be Taylor Whitley, which she'll do while trying to make an immediate impact at Indiana State.

"Whatever they set their mind to they can do," Whitley said. "These girls are determined and passionate. I give them all the credit in the world for what they did this year. Next year they are just going to tear it up."

That very well could be true, but it's going to take a pretty special team to match the 2009 Vikings, the first area girls team to get to state since West Aurora finished second in 1990 and only Tri-Cities team to do it.

"Sad to have the season end and sad to have another loss but so proud of everything we have accomplished," Nolan said. "A loss doesn't take away from what these kids accomplished and all the effort they put into every game, especially this weekend."

jlemon@dailyherald.com