Geneva erases 13-point deficit, defeats Glenbard S.

Geneva appeared thisclose to losing its third straight game, looking very much like a team prepared for a free-fall into the depths of mediocrity.

Glenbard South was thisclose to knocking off another Western Sun Conference front-runner by playing what amounted to its best effort of the season Friday night in Geneva.

For three quarters, that is.

The Raiders watched their 13-point fourth quarter lead disappear while Geneva staged an electric comeback to notch an important 48-37 conference victory.

Geneva (13-6, 7-2) scored 24 fourth-quarter points, with the most important coming on Scott Wendt's 3-point bomb with a minute left in the game that broke a 36-36 tie.

"If I would have missed that shot, who knows what would have happened," said Wendt, who led Geneva with 11 points. "There were people down in the lane, so I thought an outside shot there would be better."

To think Geneva would even have a chance in the waning minutes was an improbable notion after Glenbard South had displayed a stifling man-to-man defense most of the night and took a 36-23 lead on a Trace Wanless bank shot to open the fourth quarter.

But the Vikings started their comeback on an offensive-rebound basket by JP Landry, who had 7 points in his first start of the season, and a conventional three-point play by Wendt on a jump shot.

"We kept on preaching to the kids to keep competing," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "For a while there, it seemed like we were never going to score."

After Wanless missed two free throws, Nolan Block answered for Geneva with a drive to the basket that trimmed Glenbard's lead to 36-30 with 4:19 left. Block made one of two free throws moments later, and then Geneva ran a double-screen for Dan Trimble (10 points) on the perimeter and he sank a 3-pointer to move the Vikings within two points.

After Joe Harks missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity for the Raiders, Block drove inside and dumped a pass off to Brandon Beitzel who muscled in the tying basket with 2:25 remaining.

Thirty seconds later, Beitzel corralled a Glenbard South miss in heavy traffic and Geneva called time to set up a go-ahead shot. After Block drove the baseline and dropped a pass off to Trimble in the lane, the junior forward passed out of a clogged lane to a wide open Wendt for his go-ahead trey.

"I was so happy for Scottie that he knocked down that shot," Ralston said. "But for Glenbard South, that was a backbreaker."

Geneva made seven free throws in the final minute of the game, while forcing two Glenbard turnovers and allowing only one basket by Michael Rovansek, who had a game-high 17 points, but scored only four in the second half.

"I have to give a tremendous amount of credit to our fourth-quarter team defense," Ralston said. "That might have been one of the best defensive efforts, for eight minutes that I have seen."

For three quarters, Glenbard South (8-10, 5-5) outplayed Geneva, holding the Vikings on their Senior Night to only 8 points in the second quarter and 5 in the third.

"Unfortunately, we played not to lose, instead of playing to win," Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke said. "They started making some shots and we missed a couple of easy buckets that would have helped and then we got tight, and they took over.

"For three quarters, that was probably the best we have played," added Hardtke, whose team had knocked off league-leading DeKalb earlier in the season. "We played solid defense and then we self-destructed in the last six minutes of the game."

For Geneva, it was a matter of not getting frustrated, despite 14 turnovers and 18 missed shots in the first three quarters.

"Everybody stepped up in the fourth and that's what we needed," Geneva point guard Block said. "We put in a new offense this week and we started running it a lot better later in the game, but it was a frustrating game for the first three quarters."