Geneva fends off St. Charles North in a thriller

For someone who said she couldn't think straight in the huddle with 23.8 seconds left in the Class 4A St. Charles North regional championship game Thursday, Kat Yelle sure had a funny way of showing it on the court.

With Geneva's undefeated season on the line, Yelle teamed up with Lauren Wicinski to finally fend off a determined St. Charles North team.

Yelle drove from beyond the 3-point arc almost to the basket, and when Wicinski's defender came to help, she calmly fed Wicinski for a wide-open shot under the basket with 3.8 seconds left. After a timeout, St. Charles North couldn't get off a final shot, giving Geneva a thrilling 47-45 victory in a game they trailed by 10 points with a little more than eight minutes to go.

The Vikings' game-winning play came after Kiley Hackbarth's 3-pointer tied the game at 45.

"After Kiley made that 3, I could not concentrate on anything," Yelle said. "I was like I don't want to go to overtime with this team because they are dangerous. I just told myself we need to do this now. I waited as long as I possibly could. I just wanted the ball in my hands at the end, either drive and get the layup or dish."

Geneva (29-0) will play Cary-Grove (26-3) at 6 p.m. Monday in the Class 4A Huntley sectional. St. Charles North ends its season at 21-10.

Wicinski's winning shot came about 12 minutes after a controversial technical foul sent her to the bench with four fouls. St. Charles North had Geneva on the ropes at that point, pushing its lead to 35-25 late in the third quarter.

"I'm just so proud of all of us," said Wicinski, one of six players who finished the game with 4 fouls. "I'm so happy we could do this as a team and overcome adversity."

The game was tied four times in the frantic final five minutes, with fans from both sides standing nearly the entire time. The North Star faithful went nuts when Jenna Bell put the North Stars ahead 39-37, then Ashley Santos drove to tie the game.

Tess Fischer's 2 free throws put the North Stars back on top only to watch Yelle's steal and layup make it 41-41.

Bell's free throw gave the North Stars what turned out to be their last lead at 42-41, which Santos countered with a spinning move and a 43-42 Geneva lead with 2:24 left.

Both teams missed chances including a key charge to nullify a North Stars basket. Wicinski's 2 free throws gave Geneva a 45-42 lead with 41.4 left, which lasted until Hackbarth's 3-pointer tied the game once again.

Turnovers hurt Geneva much of the night, but with the game on the line the Vikings couldn't have executed any better.

"Our plan was to delay until about 10 seconds and go for the last shot," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "The girls just persevered. To come back from behind down like that was huge."

As many smiles were on Geneva's faces cutting down the nets there were red eyes from the North Stars walking out of their locker room.

"They are upset now," North Stars coach Colleen Brennan said. "We were a good basketball team. I wish the outcome was different but unless you win state you are going to lose your last basketball game."

The back-and-forth finish contrasted the first three quarters of huge momentum shifts.

Geneva hit its first 5 shots from the field wild building a 15-3 lead five minutes into the game. None of the attempts came more than 2 feet from the basket.

But for the next two-plus quarters, the North Stars dominated. Bell single-handedly kept St. Charles North in the game early, scoring all 7 of her team's points in the first quarter and then a 3-point play to start the second.

Fischer's layup after a 50-foot assist from Hackbarth cut it to 15-12, the first points any North Star besides Bell scored.

Hackbarth picked up her third foul moments later, but the North Stars got jumpers by her replacement Megan Booe and Fischer - both assisted by Bell - for a 20-19 lead. Yelle's 2 free throws put Geneva ahead 21-20 at halftime.

The teams combined to hit just 7 of 22 from the line in the first half, 0-11 by players other than Bell and Yelle.

St. Charles North kept the momentum going from its strong second quarter. Like she did the night before, Dana Sibley's lone basket came in timely fashion, a 3-pointer that gave the North Stars a 26-23 lead.

The most controversial play of the night followed, when Wicinski was called for a foul reaching for a rebound, then hit with a technical after she bounced the ball on the floor. That went for her third and fourth fouls and took her out of the game for the final 4:25 of the third quarter.

The North Stars capitalized. While Geneva got flustered and struggled to get a good shot, Sydney Russell and Fischer drained 3-pointers giving the North Stars a 35-25 lead late in the third quarter - and completing a 32-10 complete turnaround after Geneva started the game ahead 15-3.

"I thought we had a lot of time and we had been down before," Nolan said. "I knew we weren't playing anywhere near what we are capable of doing. Credit North, I think their defense was keeping us from doing what we wanted to do."

The Vikings' comeback began when Sammy Scofield made the team's only 3-pointer of the game (in 10 attempts) with 6 seconds left in the third quarter.

"We definitely needed some life," Scofield said. "We were down by 10, that's not the position we want to be in. We just needed to play our game, get back in the flow."

That Geneva did in the fourth quarter. Wicinski returned with her four fouls and burried a 14-foot jumper on a feed from Santos. Scofield found Yelle for a three-point play, and when Wicinski - 0-for-4 of the line at the time - hit a pair of free throws with 5:06 left the game was tied setting the stage for the wild finish.

Bell led both teams with 19 points to go with 10 rebounds. Fischer scored 9 and Hackbarth 7. "She's a great player," Wicinski said of Bell. "She drives to the basket and picks up fouls really fast. She's an amazing player."

Yelle (16 points, 7 assists) and Wicinski (14 points, 17 rebounds) led Geneva like they have all year. Geneva won the rebounding battle 32-27 to make up for its 15 turnovers to North's 8.

"It's expected for a variety of reasons," Brennan said of Geneva's comeback. "It swung in their direction for a little bit. It was a close game that could have gone either way."