WW South makes Geneva earn tourney victory
Kat Yelle has had enough.
“We're sick of losing,” Geneva's senior guard said. “We're not used to it. We've underestimated a lot of teams and we could get away with it the last couple years. This year we can't get away with it.”
The Vikings didn't underestimate Wheaton Warrenville South Thursday, and with good reason.
The 18th-ranked Tigers played No. 11 Geneva to a standstill for much of the game, but the Vikings showed their experience in a 50-46 win at the Benet/Naperville North Holiday Tournament in Lisle.
Geneva (7-3) has already lost as many games this year as it has the last two seasons combined.
But not Thursday, and not yet in three years at this tournament. Winning this year's title could be a grind. Count Yelle as prepared.
“We go into every game now thinking it's going to be close,” Yelle said, “and we try to prepare ourselves for that. This is probably the first team all year that we haven't underestimated. We go into every game now thinking teams can beat us.”
Two Geneva runs ultimately were the difference.
WW South (7-3) led 24-21 with 2:08 left in a back-and-forth first half after a pair of free throws by Kelly Langlas. Ashley Santos, who had a game-high 18 points and 8 rebounds, answered with 2 free throws for Geneva.
It touched off a 14-0 Vikings run into the third quarter that ended with a Santos 3-pointer and a 35-24 Geneva lead.
“You can't let them make runs,” WW South coach Rob Kroehnke said. “They're too good of a team.”
WW South worked its way back to within 37-34 after three quarters, and a score by Allie Zappia with 4:22 left had the Tigers down 41-38.
But the Tigers turned it over on their next three possessions, and a quick 7-0 Geneva run all but put the game away.
“Our kids have to learn it's a game of possessions,” Kroehnke said. “We can't waste them.”
Yelle scored 10 points, 6 in the fourth quarter. Sammy Scofield and Katelyn Allen each added 8.
“I'm really happy that we're getting these close games,” Yelle said, “because it will help us in the playoffs when we know we're not going to blow teams out. It helps us learn how to close games out.”
WW South's comeback in the third quarter started when Kroehnke substituted his three sophomores and two freshmen for the Tigers' five starters.
“We're not two teams. I don't want to send that message,” Kroehnke said. “We needed to stop the bleeding and the young kids did a great job.”
Hannah Credille scored 10 points and Annie Shain 9 for WW South. A loss to a team like Geneva didn't dampen Kroehnke's feelings about his up-and-coming group.
“I was very proud with the way the kids played tonight,” Kroehnke said. “I told them, ‘You traded blows with them. They hit you, and you hit them back, and we went back and forth.' Unfortunately we made more mistakes than they did and it didn't give us an opportunity to be in the position we wanted to be in. We didn't take a step backward. We just didn't get a win.”