Geneva survives another scare, outlasts Cary-Grove
The scares keep coming, and Geneva keeps surviving.
Cary-Grove battled the undefeated and state's fourth-ranked Class 4A team for four quarters. Not until clutch foul shooting in the final minute by Sammy Scofield and Kat Yelle did the Vikings pull away for a 48-41 victory in the Class 4A Huntley sectional semifinal.
Geneva (30-0) will play Rockford Boylan (27-3), a 62-46 winner over Rockton Hononegah, for the sectional championship at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Vikings never trailed but never felt comfortable. For the second straight game foul trouble to a key player had a major impact.
"We have had a few ugly wins I'd say definitely because the teams are getting better so it's testing us," Scofield said.
Cary Grove (26-4) stayed close almost entirely behind Claire Jakubicek and Liz Bart, who scored the team's first 32 points. Not until Liz Dyrek nailed a 3-pointer with 3:14 remaining in the game did another Trojan score.
"We needed a little more out of some other people," Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert said.
Dyrek's 3 brought the Trojans within 36-35. Geneva quickly responded when Yelle found a cutting Lauren Wicinski for a 3-point play.
After Yelle split free throws, Jakubicek's jumper brought the Trojans within 40-37 with 1:14 left. Scofield and Yelle made 4 straight from the line to give the Vikings a 44-37 cushion and basically seal the outcome.
After scoring 9 points in Geneva's two regional wins, Scofield's offense came alive with a team-high 16 points and three 3-pointers.
"I definitely felt in the flow tonight, in the groove," Scofied said. "It's good when you have one of those nights."
Once again, Geneva raced to a double-digit lead in the first quarter - just like it did taking a 15-3 lead against St. Charles North on Thursday. This time the Vikings led 14-2.
Geneva shook off a sluggish first four minutes, taking a 4-2 lead when Scofield assisted Wicinski for a short jumper on an out-of-bounds play. That started a 12-0 Geneva burst in just two minutes, sparked by Scofield's back-to-back 3-pointers.
Scofield also had a fastbreak layup to end the run after a steal from Yelle. Unfortunately for the Vikings, Yelle picked up her second foul on the next possession and sat the entire second quarter.
Geneva couldn't get much going without its Ohio-bound junior point guard. The Vikings missed their first seven shots of the second quarter and committed 6 turnovers, scoring their only basket on Ashley Santos' midrange jumper.
That gave Cary-Grove time to get back in the game, which the Trojans gradually did behind Jakubicek and Bart. The duo scored all 13 of Cary-Grove's first-half points to trim Geneva's lead to 16-13 at halftime.
"I think part of our lack of affectiveness in the second quarter was obviously Kat being out but we got too stagnant," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "We stopped looking where that next pass should go on the offense."
Yelle didn't take long to make an impact in the third quarter, assisting on Scofield's basket as Geneva quickly pushed its lead to 20-13.
Cary-Grove didn't go quietly. The Trojans pulled within a point three times in the second half - 25-24, 29-28 and 36-35 - but never tied or took the lead.
Two of the key plays that kept Geneva in the lead came from Wicinski. Twice she grabbed an offensive rebound on a missed free throw.
The first time Wicinski went back up and scored. The second time she passed to Yelle who found Scofield for a 3-pointer - giving Geneva a combined 7 points on those two possessions.
"I just try to be the first person to it," said Wicinski, who was just a little too quick on a third free throw and was called for a lane violation. "I got a line violation, it happens sometimes. I just try to get to the ball before they get to it."
Yelle scored all 10 of her points in the second half. Wicinski and Santos both added 9 points while leading Geneva to a 32-26 rebounding advantage with 12 and 6, respectively.
Geneva hit 12 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter to finish 13 for 21; Cary-Grove was just 2-3.
"We could have driven a little more but they played good defense," Bart said.
"Cary-Grove is a comeback team. We might be down but we'll never give up. We're going to fight to the finish. Tonight shows we can hang with the fourth-ranked team in the state."
Jakubicek led both teams with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Bart hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.
"We weren't sure, could we compete with this team? We proved we can," Saffert said. "If we could have just got one more shot to get over the hump, who knows, maybe it's a different game. They are a great team. I fully expect to see them downstate."