Clear-headed Leahy sinks Downers Grove North
They say the good free-throw shooters blank everything out. That’s what Geneva’s Brendan Leahy did in the last 14 seconds against Downers Grove North.
“I wasn’t really thinking about the score at all,” said the Vikings guard. “I was just thinking, make one, seal the deal.”
Leahy made 2 free throws with 14 seconds left, then was fouled on a defensive rebound and sank another freebie with seven seconds left to clinch Geneva’s 59-55 nonconference win on Tuesday.
Leahy stalled a Downers North flurry from a 56-48 deficit to within 56-55 with 28 seconds left. The Trojans’ Tom Wengren canned a 3 from the right corner to put the pressure on Geneva, which hosted the game in the old-school Mack Olson Gym.
All this was done without the benefit of Geneva’s top scorer, forward Dan Trimble. He scored a game-high 20 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots but fouled out with 44 seconds left. Dan Hince scored 9 points, Phil Lorenz 7 for Geneva.
“We knew we needed (Trimble) at the end, but we didn’t have him, so we had to find a way to win the game. And we found a way,” said Leahy, who scored 15 points and went 6 of 8 from the foul line.
“Just like in the driveway, shooting with my dad,” Leahy said.
Overall Geneva (11-15) went 25 of 30 from the line, 11 of 12 in the second quarter, a key difference in a game that saw Downers North (8-15) rally from a 32-22 halftime hole and a 54-45 fourth-quarter margin.
“I commend my kids for continually playing through all that adversity, so that’s a good sign this late in the season with all the ups and downs we’ve gone through,” said Trojans coach Jim Thomas.
After a downer like Saturday’s 64-20 loss to cross-town rival Downers Grove South, this was a good sign. Downers North was led by Ross Johnson’s 16 points, Wengren with 15 and Rob Mahlke with 13. Lively center Tyler Mason added 7 points and 5 rebounds.
“We have nothing to lose, so we just come out, keep our heads up and just play hard,” Mason said. “We know if we play hard we should be able to come back for anything.”
Downers North’s 12-of-21 second-half shooting and full-court defensive pressure gave Geneva some adversity of its own to overcome.
“We had too many turnovers there once again late,” Vikings coach Phil Ralston said, “but for us to be able to finish at the line and really close it out at the line was a good sign.”