Geneva loses shootout despite Yelle's 38

Not even one of the best performances in the history of Geneva girls basketball could save the Vikings on the big stage Saturday at the 21st annual McDonald's Shootout at Willowbrook High School.

Ohio University-bound senior Kat Yelle shattered her career high with 38 points, yet it wasn't enough against one of the premier teams from the state of Ohio, Pickerington North, who overcame a 3-point halftime deficit to win 69-58.

Pickerington (11-3) was led by a pair of Division I players, Shelby Olsewski (Austin Peay) and Kavunna Edwards (Villanova) with 24 and 23 points, respectively, to match Yelle's brilliance.

"I know Kat would give up the career high in a heartbeat for a team win but it was a phenomenal effort," said Geneva coach Gina Nolan, who wasn't sure if it also was a school record. "She carried us and she has for the last few years in more ways than one. Very happy for her. She worked hard and got it done for us."

Yelle's previous high was 25 points, first set as a sophomore in the 2009 sectional championship win over Lake Park and matched earlier this season.

"It was coming naturally tonight and I was just on tonight," Yelle said. "We played tough, that's all that matters. That was a great team."

Geneva (13-5) made its McDonald's Shootout debut last year and won a hard-fought 66-61 game over eventual Class 3A state qualifier Hillcrest.

Yelle scored 15 in that game and had help from Ashley Santos with 16, Sammy Scofield with 14 and Lauren Wicinski with 11. On Saturday, Santos added 13 points but the balanced scoring wasn't there. Yelle and Santos combined for 40 of Geneva's first 42 points and 51 of 58. Only four players scored.

"Usually we are not like that, usually more spread out and team contributions," Nolan said. "I guess just one of those games where it fell to Kat and hopefully we'll get better balance from here on out."

Rebounding was the other big problem for the Vikings, who lost that battle 39-23. The Warriors made only 5 of 17 free throws, and even when Jordan Householder missed one in the fourth quarter she rebounded her own missed free throw and scored a play that symbolized Geneva's inability to clear the ball after getting a stop.

"Early on we gave them so many second and third chances that they kicked out and got a nice look," Nolan said. "I'm a firm believer height isn't the only thing for a rebounder. It has to be a sense of where the ball is going to be and being physical and worrying about your player you are supposed to be boxing out. Definitely some things we can work on in that area."

Yelle began her big night with a 16-point first quarter capped by banking in a half-court shot at the buzzer. "That was just luck," Yelle said. "Whenever we are goofing around we take half-court shots but I never thought I'd make one in a game."

The half-courter gave Geneva a 20-16 lead and an 11-0 run to end the first quarter. Yelle also had a pair of 3-point plays.

The teams traded the lead four times in the second quarter. A pair of free throws by Santos and then Santos' assist to Yelle put Geneva up 32-29 at halftime.

Pickerington started the third quarter going right to its strength, Edwards inside and retook a 34-32 lead. Yelle's spectacular flip shot while falling down tied the game a final time at 34 before Edwards scored again and Olsewski had a stickback.

"They are our go-to kids," Panthers coach Dave Butcher said. "We felt we could hurt them a little inside and I think that's why they tried to keep the game 94 feet."

The Vikings seemed to tire as the game wore on, falling behind 53-45 going into the fourth quarter. Geneva never got closer than 62-56 in the fourth quarter. "We definitely got tired," Yelle said.

"I think both teams were tired," Butcher said. "It was like a game of who was going to survive and our kids sucked it up a bit."

Geneva shot well, hitting 20 of 40 from the field and 16 of 21 at the line. The Warriors, playing without two injured starters, only committed 13 turnovers in a game Butcher said was a lot of fun to be part of.

"I watched some of the earlier games here today and this game seemed to have so much more energy," Butcher said. "The game was extremely fast-paced. I'm sure it was fun for spectators. We're usually a little more defensive-oriented. They beat us down the floor and we had a hard time playing transition defense."