Geneva leaves little doubt in convincing win over Boylan
On the court, Geneva's girls basketball team has exhibited great patience throughout the season.
Off the court, that patience isn't so easy to possess.
"I want to play the next game so bad - it's like I have to wait a whole weekend, come on," said senior forward Lauren Wicinski, who turned in another dominating inside performance with 19 points and 18 rebounds while leading the Vikings (31-0) to a 62-48 Class 4A sectional championship triumph over Rockford Boylan (27-4) Thursday night in Huntley.
With their second consecutive sectional title, the Vikings advance to Monday's Streamwood supersectional (7:30 p.m.) against Hersey (26-7), which defeated Barrington 49-37 Thursday night in Libertyville.
Geneva, which led from start to finish, had things going its way from the first 30 seconds as Wicinski positioned herself for a layup and a 3-point play from Sammy Scofield (14 points, 4 assists) resulted in a quick 5-0 lead.
After the Titans fought back to within 12-10, the Vikings countered with a 7-0 run, capped by a jumper from Sam Dudman and NBA-range, buzzer-beating 3-pointer from junior guard Kat Yelle (15 points, 6 assists) to extend their lead to 19-10 after one quarter.
In the process, they also may have flustered the Titans a bit.
"We got off to a very slow start and we lost our composure," said Rockford Boylan coach Paul Perrone. "The things that we practiced during the week, we just forgot all that stuff. But that's a credit to Geneva. They're very solid offensively and defensively."
During their last two postseason victories over St. Charles North and Cary-Grove, the Vikings allowed their opponents to get back in the game after explosive starts.
That wasn't the case this time around.
Scofield's 3-pointer from the top of the key put the Vikings on top 33-19 - their largest lead of the first half. Geneva led 34-24 at the intermission.
Rockford Boylan, led by prolific junior scorer Brea Edwards, who finished with a game-high 25 points and 15 rebounds, made it 44-37 with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter.
But the Vikings once again answered with a 7-0 spurt, highlighted by Ashley Santos' 3-pointer and Wicinski's putback, and built a 51-40 third-quarter lead. The Titans never got within double digits the rest of the way.
"We needed a game like that," said Yelle. "It seems like we always get ahead on teams and they come back. We just wanted to keep our momentum going."
Geneva outscored Boylan in every quarter and pulled away down the stretch, something that brought a smile to the face of head coach Gina Nolan.
"We talked about that," said Nolan. "We said, 'let's get that lead and let's build it this time. The kids did a great job. They were focused today."
Despite only forcing 7 turnovers, the Vikings' defense turned in another strong effort, thwarting any hopes of a Rockford Boylan comeback by limiting the Titans to 8 fourth-quarter points.
While Edwards shot 7-for-17 from the field, the rest of her teammates were just 9-of-40 (23 percent).
"We've been playing well lately on the defensive end," said Nolan, "especially in the matchup zone. A lot of it comes from coming together and getting familiar with each other. They're just communicating really well and they're working really hard."
They're also having fun.
"We were just trying to enjoy it as much as we could tonight," said Nolan. "We knew we were going to have a great crowd. It's about just appreciating how far we've gotten."
Now they'll have to wait a few days before facing Hersey.
"It will be a good challenge," said Nolan. "But at this point of the year every game is a challenge."
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<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=362132">Geneva gives Boylan a lesson <span class="date">[02/25/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=362130">Bench once again gives Geneva a lift <span class="date">[02/25/10]</span></a></li>
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