Geneva wraps up second place in Western Sun
The high school version of scoreboard watching took place in the foyer and hallways at Sycamore High School Friday night.
Parents asked reporters, reporters asked coaches and coaches asked other coaches the same question: "Did you hear a Rochelle-DeKalb score?"
Alas, the answer wasn't what any Geneva fan wanted to hear, a 76-51 DeKalb victory that clinched the final Western Sun Conference title for the Barbs by a game over the Vikings.
Geneva (18-9, 10-4) did its part with a 69-50 win at Sycamore. A pair of last-second losses to the Barbs (21-8, 11-3) turned out to be too much to overcome, even with DeKalb's late-season slide.
"If we would have done a better job taking care of business in a couple games we wouldn't be hoping Rochelle upsets DeKalb," said Geneva coach Phil Ralston, whose team took sole possession of second when Kaneland beat Batavia Friday night.
Instead, Geneva's business becomes making a strong showing on its home court next week in the Class 4A Geneva regional, which starts Monday against the same West Chicago team the Vikings defeated 48-35 in their season opener. Downers Grove South and Benet are among the powers Geneva could see if the Vikings keep winning.
"We know we have to be ready for them Monday," Ralston said. "It's not an easy task to play the pigtail game."
Other than the first quarter, Geneva had a good tuneup against the Spartans (11-15, 3-11). The Vikings allowed 20 first-quarter points to fall behind by as many as 8, then engineered a 21-5 burst to take a 29-26 halftime lead.
"We're going to have to straighten that up (the first-quarter defense) for regionals because good teams will put us away if we do that," said Geneva senior forward JP Landry. "It was a good game other than that."
Geneva wasn't through with the big runs, scoring 20 unanswered points in the third quarter to turn a tight 29-28 game into a 49-28 blowout. Sycamore turned the ball over 6 times in the third quarter and made just 4 of 20 shots over the middle two quarters while getting outscored 33-13.
"They made a bit of an adjustment being a bit more aggressive on the press and I thought we became satisfied with what we did in the first quarter," Sycamore coach Jeff Hillmer said. "We're prone to droughts."
Four Vikings scored in double figures, led by junior Dan Trimble who poured in 17 of his 21 points in the second half. He drained three of his five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
"If you leave Dan open he is going to hit shots," Ralston said.
Landry added 13 points and 6 rebounds despite missing good portions in foul trouble. He's given Geneva quite a lift in the 9 games he's played since becoming eligible, averaging 8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds before Friday's game.
Landry said he stayed ready for varsity games by playing in open gyms at the Peck recreation center.
"I have done that to keep my head in the game and know how fast the game is and the right pace," Landry said.
"It was hard to sit on the bench and know that I can't go in. Now that I can go in it's a lot more exciting. I get to play a lot thankfully. It's been good, I'm playing well."
Scott Wendt, who hit all 8 of his free throws, scored 12 points and Brandon Beitzel added 10. Geneva made 10 3-pointers, the final one at the buzzer by Adam Jarka.
Friday marked Geneva's final trip to Sycamore. The Vikings' nonconference schedule next year includes a trip to Quincy, Downers Grove North and a third tournament at Plainfield North against the hosts, Lockport, Benet and Lincoln-Way.
"For those who say Geneva doesn't play a tough enough schedule, I don't think that's the case," Ralston said. "The way people vote for us in sectional says that. I would challenge anyone to look at our schedule next year and say it's not tough."
Sycamore also will adjust to a new schedule that doesn't include a pair of longtime opponents.
"I have mixed feelings," Hillmer said. "I have always enjoyed playing against Genvea as a player and a coach, same thing playing against Batavia. Will it make more sense to see people that look like us? Probably. It has not been easy being so undersized night in and night out. We just can't impose our will on people like people do to us. They just outsize us and wear us down and beat on us and we have no answer for that."