Tri-Cities topics at a glance

A little bit of this and a little bit of that …

UEC River girls race

With most schools having reached the midway point of the girls basketball conference season, it appears to be a three-team race between Geneva, St. Charles North and Streamwood for the top spot in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division.

St. Charles North, which began the conference season with a 59-57 victory over Geneva on Nov. 30, will get an opportunity to atone for its lone UEC River loss Friday night at home against Streamwood. Both teams enter the weekend contest with identical 5-1 conference records.

The Sabres, who defeated St. Charles North 43-33 on Dec. 9 in Streamwood, feature 6-foot-2 senior center Michelle Tomczak, forward Emma Schmidt, 3-point sharpshooter Jessica Cerda and versatile guard Deja Moore.

While trying to stay atop the UEC River standings, the North Stars will also be attempting to deny Sabres coach George Rosner's bid for his 300th victory at Streamwood.

Geneva (4-1) enters the week a half-game behind St. Charles North and Streamwood.

If Saturday's first half against St. Charles East was any indication, the Vikings may be playing their best basketball of the season heading into finals week.

Geneva built a 43-11 halftime lead over the host Saints and it could have been worse — the Vikings were 0-for-10 on first-half 3-point attempts and made just 5 of 11 free throws in the first 16 minutes.

With four of their last six conference games at home, the Vikings may have the most favorable remaining schedule.

UEC River boys race

There's quite a logjam these days at the top of the UEC River boys basketball standings.

Four teams — St. Charles East (3-1), Elgin (3-1), St. Charles North (3-1) and Batavia (3-2) — are separated by just a half-game, while Geneva (2-2) is only 1 game behind the leaders in the loss column.

Geneva's fate may be decided over the next 11 days when it faces Batavia (Jan. 13), St. Charles North (Jan. 15) and Elgin (Jan. 22).

St. Charles North's next three road games are against Batavia (Jan. 20), St. Charles East (Jan. 22) and Elgin (Feb. 4) — while St. Charles East will play back-to-back road games against Batavia (Feb. 10) and Elgin (Feb. 11).

Geneva's Nolan back

The best sight of the New Year had to be the return of Geneva girls basketball coach Gina Nolan to the bench last week.

Nolan, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in June and began chemotherapy treatments in August, enjoyed her first full week back to coaching as the Vikings went 2-1.

“It's good to be back,” Nolan said after Geneva's 69-44 win over St. Charles East on Saturday. “I'm feeling a little bit more comfortable (on the bench). It doesn't feel like I was gone for as long as I was, so that's great. As long as we keep winning, it'll make me feel even better.”

The players are happy to have Nolan return to where she belongs.

“It's really nice to have her back,” said four-year varsity veteran Kat Yelle. “It's my senior year so it's important ending the season with her. It's inspirational for all of us.”

Nolan is appreciative of her team's support.

“They've been awesome for me the whole time,” the coach said. “They've been so supportive and concerned about how I'm doing.”

Geneva in McDonald's Shootout

The Geneva girls basketball team (12-4) will take on one of Ohio's top high school teams in Pickerington North (7-3) at this weekend's McDonald's Shootout in Villa Park (5:30 p.m. Saturday at Willowbrook High School).

Ranked 19th in Ohio by maxpreps.com, Pickerington North features a pair of Division I recruits — 6-0 senior forward Kavunaa Edwards (Villanova) and 5-6 senior guard Shelby Olszewski (Austin Peay).

“They just lost a starter (5-10 senior Paige Stought) to an ACL tear and another starter (5-9 junior Taylor Jones) had hand surgery but they're still a very tough team,” said Geneva coach Gina Nolan. “It'll be a tough game, but it'll be good for us.

“A week after that (Jan. 25) we play Fenwick. These are good tests, especially at this time of the year. They'll help us get ready for regionals.”

Three of the Vikings' 4 losses have been by a combined total of 5 points — 59-57 to St. Charles North, 66-65 to Springfield, and 54-52 to Bartlett.

“It'll be a big game for us,” said Geneva's Kat Yelle. “We've lost some close games against some really good teams. We want a win against a real good team.”

Suggestion for Saints

Here's a suggestion for St. Charles East's boys basketball team — get out of York's Jack Tosh Holiday tournament.

While the Saints earned their first opening-round victory in recent memory by upsetting top-seeded Maine South (47-44) on Spencer Motley's 55-foot, buzzer-beating shot two weeks ago, they still finished with a 1-3 mark and allowed 74-plus points in losses to Brother Rice, St. Ignatius and Riverside-Brookfield.

Since their own Thanksgiving tournament has been beefed up over time to include powerhouses like St. Joseph, Proviso East, and Hales Franciscan in addition to perennially tough East Aurora and St. Charles North, it seems more sensible for the Saints to look for a new venue over winter break — perhaps Glenbard West — and a better chance at a winning record.

Best wishes to Coffey

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to former Batavia three-sport standout Jordan Coffey. Coffey, a sophomore pitcher/outfielder at Taylor University, underwent Tommy John surgery on his right arm Jan. 3.