Whitley stands tall with 25 in defeat
NORMAL-Taylor Whitley was unbowed after Geneva had its state-championship aspirations vanquished by Whitney Young Friday night in the second Class 4A semifinal.
"They were definitely the most physical (team) we have played all season," Whitley said of the defending champion Dolphins' unique combination of size, strength and ability. "Fast, quick, athletic-they're always going to have five on the floor (with ability)."
Whitley canned a 3-pointer two seconds before the final buzzer, but there were no heroics attached to the last of her game-high 25 points.
The Vikings had their season-long 32-game winning streak snapped by Young, 63-42, at Redbird Arena.
Geneva fell behind by double digits early, only to mount a courageous comeback that had her fingerprints all over the Vikings' run.
Whitley, who will conclude her prep career tonight against Wheeling in the third-place game, did not sit out a second, being required to multitask in all avenues against the Dolphins' pressing defense and inside-outside offensive attack.
On a night when Geneva struggled from the field, its countless point-blank attempts failing to find the required destination, Whitley never quit.
Whitley finished 9-for-20 from the field, including three 3-pointers, but the Vikings' quest to deny the nationally-ranked Dolphins dissolved under the weight of an otherwise off-night from the field.
The other Geneva players were 7-for-36 from the field, and it left Gina Nolan in a quandary to explain the Vikings' lack of balance.
"I can't remember the last time we only had one girl in double figures," the Geneva coach said. "(Whitely) didn't have a lot of help on the offensive end. But I don't think it was too much of a burden. She is used to having to do that for us."
The teams' similar style in using pressure defense to create offense was essentially a wash, but the wear and tear on Whitley as the game progressed was palpable.
The Indiana State recruit was constant motion, breaking the Dolphins' press while simultaneously seeking breakouts with fellow guards Kat Yelle and Emily Hinchman.
Whitley also battled the Young frontline for loose balls, not too mention scrambling for the combined 76 missed shots in the game.
"We were really gassed by the end of the third quarter," Whitley said. "The girls didn't give up. I definitely didn't want to give up. Just give 100 percent all the time."
"We tried to limit her touches and we didn't always do a good job with that," Young coach Corry Irvin said of the defensive game plan on Whitley. "We were trying to make everything hard for her."