Semmelhack leads York past Neuqua Valley
As far as lessons learned go, Neuqua Valley guard Jackie Geffinger thinks the Wildcats can build from Friday's 44-37 loss to York at the Hinsdale South tournament. Despite falling behind by 14 points in the third quarter, Neuqua Valley fought back down the stretch to make it a tight game. The Dukes pulled it out in the fourth quarter by making some clutch free throws.
"We did a much better job of not holding back," Geffinger said. "We can learn from this - not waiting until the fourth quarter to get going. We need to go from the beginning and play as hard as we can."
Geffinger, a senior, came off the bench to contribute 4 points - all in the fourth quarter - and 2 of her points were really big. Her steal and layup pulled the Wildcats to within 40-37 with 40.7 seconds to play.
"I needed to find a way to get back in there and charge everyone up," Geffinger said.
It wasn't just her efforts either. Guard Jenna Marsalli and forward Amber Smith led the team with 9 points apiece, and they each scored some key points. Smith had a couple of real nice drives during the comeback.
For York (4-1), it was led by a nice performance by senior forward Evan Semmelhack, who finished with a game-high 14 points. She sank two of her three 3-pointers to power a 8-0 third-quarter run to give York its biggest lead of the night, 34-20.
"Evan's 3s in the third quarter really helped get our offense in rhythm," said York coach Jason Reinecke. "We are not a big team and need to knock down some shots."
Forward Nicole Brown added 10 points while guards Danielle Vujovic and Meryl Cripe each chipped in 7 points. It was Vujovic, a junior, who came through in the clutch by sinking five free throws in the fourth quarter, including three in the final 28 seconds of the contest as Neuqua Valley threatened.
In addition to the third quarter lull, the Wildcats (0-4) were hurt by ice cold shooting in the second quarter, 1 of 13 from the field, and York took advantage by outscoring them 13-3 during that eight-minute stretch.
"We are doing a great job defensively holding teams to under 47 points," said Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams. "The kids that are coming off the bench are making some mistakes. That is the mark of an inexperienced team. We had some nice high-low situations where we couldn't finish and some great opportunities to hit some 3s.
"We are trying to find our rhythm and our composure. We are going to play a lot of kids to see where we are."