Geneva holds on for closest win of the year
For seven minutes - those first seven minutes of the game when DeKalb didn't score - it looked like the Geneva girls basketball team was on its way to another lopsided Western Sun win.
For the rest of the night it looked just like what the Vikings have come to expect when they play at DeKalb - a dogfight.
The Barbs pushed Geneva for four full quarters. Not until Taylor White's 3-pointer clanged off the rim at the buzzer did the Vikings have their closest win of the year, 44-41.
That makes it 52 straight regular season victories for Geneva, and it also makes it two years in a row that its game at DeKalb is its closest. Maybe Gina Nolan's crew won't be too sad when next year comes and there's no more trips to DeKalb on the schedule.
"This has always been tough place to play," Nolan said. "(DeKalb coach) Deb (Whitman) does a nice job. Credit DeKalb, they got very into it emotionally and the crowd got into it and flustered us a little bit. We did what we have to do to get away with a win and hopefully that's something for us to learn from."
The Vikings (25-0, 13-0) didn't have as many nice things to say about how they played. DeKalb (16-10, 7-6) fell behind 11-0, then basically outplayed Geneva over the final 29 minutes, outscoring them 41-33.
"We were not ourselves tonight," junior guard Kat Yelle said. "I don't really know what it was. We just played bad. We came in here and we're starting to get to the point where it's just another game for us and we're taking it for granted. We need to come in and look at every game that it could be a close game and we could lose."
The Vikings also played short-handed without starting center Kelsey Augustine (flu). Nolan hopes to have her back Saturday against Bartlett.
"Our continuity was a little off in the lane," Nolan said. "Sam (Dudman) and Brook (Binette) did a great job off the bench but Kelsey does a lot of little things that look bigger tonight without her in there."
The Barbs never led but tied Geneva three times in the second quarter. Yelle picked up her third foul and missed the final 3:29 of the first half. Ashley Santos' jumper put the Vikings ahead 25-23 at halftime.
Geneva never could extend its lead to double figures in the second half. Yelle's layup gave the Vikings a 31-25 advantage midway through the third quarter only to see the Barbs stay within 35-32 on Hannah Davison's short jumper in the closing seconds.
Binette grabbed an offensive rebound and found Santos for a jumper that gave Geneva a 37-32 lead to start the fourth quarter. Santos scored on a putback and Yelle took a defensive rebound all the way for a layup and a 41-34 lead with 4:44 remaining.
It seemed Geneva was about to put the Barbs away only to again see DeKalb fight back. Baskets by White and Rachel Torres coupled with Geneva turnovers brought the Barbs within 41-38 in the final minute, but the Vikings forced a turnover to deny DeKalb a chance to tie.
White's 3-pointer with 16 seconds left cut Geneva's lead to 43-41. Yelle (3 of 4 at the line in the last minute) split free throws, which held up as the final score when White's last-second 3-pointer just missed.
"From where we were sitting I was already preparing for overtime. I thought it was going in," said Whitman, whose team has lost four last-second games in the last two weeks to Batavia, Sterling, Sycamore and Geneva.
"I don't talk a lot about moral victories but I think tonight we took a step."
Santos paced Geneva with 15 points, Yelle added 13 and Lauren Wicinski grabbed 16 rebounds to go with her 10 points.
"We have to be smarter," Nolan said. "Sometimes talent doesn't mean anything if you aren't smart with the ball. That's what we have to focus on in close games because there will be more to come I'm sure."