Soccer awaits, but Geneva's Allen not ready for basketball to end

If Geneva senior soccer and basketball player Katelyn Allen needed any affirmation she made the right college decision, Mother Nature provided it the last few weeks.

Allen loves the warmer temps, just one of the reasons she decided on the University of South Carolina Upstate to play college soccer.

Allen is one of two starters on the Upstate Eight Conference River Division champion Geneva Vikings girls basketball team whose best sport is actually soccer.

Sammy Scofield will play soccer at Notre Dame, and Allen recently decided on South Carolina Upstate where she will have company with players traveling quite a ways to play there. There's two other players in the class from Illinois.

Allen plays high school soccer for coach Megan Owens and club soccer for the Fox Valley Strikers under the direction of Jim Winslow. She was named Geneva's offensive player of the year and all-conference last year.

"I really like warm weather," Allen said. "When I went to visit all the girls were really nice. They were from everywhere, Texas, Washington, St. Louis. I think only three are from South Carolina. The coach (Renee Lopez) is from Rockford. She knew about this area. I really liked the campus, I'm going into education, it's really nice, I'm really excited."

Allen also is quite excited about the basketball postseason. After getting to state in 2009 and the supersectional in 2010, Geneva is flying under the radar a little this season heading into next week's Class 4A St. Charles East regional. They take a 21-6 regular season record compared to 27-0 the past two regular seasons.

There's plenty of good reasons for that. Geneva played a more difficult regular season schedule this year with opponents like Montini and Fenwick. The Vikings had much more on their minds than basketball when the season started with Tim Pease filling in for coach Gina Nolan as Nolan continued her recovery from cancer. And they caught an awful break in the first 20 minutes of the first practice in November when freshman Sidney Santos went down with a season-ending knee injury.

But the Vikings come into the postseason playing their best basketball of the season, winners of six straight. Allen has had a hot hand during that run, scoring 14 points Thursday in a key Upstate Eight win over Streamwood and a career-high 17 in a victory over St. Charles East Friday.

"I'm really proud of her," Geneva senior guard Kat Yelle said. "She is looking at it that she will never play basketball again so she wants to give it her all. It's weird but at the same time it is good motivation for them (Allen and Scofield) to give it their all the last few games we have together."

Allen said she's not going to completely give up basketball whenever Geneva's season ends. She's already made plans to play intramural basketball.

"My soccer team said they have an intramural team but they aren't very good so I said I'd join it," Allen laughed.

Nolan believes if it wasn't for Allen's soccer talent she has what it takes to play college basketball. Allen and Scofield continue a trend that has been key to Geneva's success - their top athletes come out for basketball even if their best sport is a different one.

There's other area basketball coaches who would love to see the same thing at their school. Division I volleyball players Lauren Wicinski and Kelsey Augustine anchored Geneva's front line the previous three years.

Allen has done more than her share to make up for those frontcourt graduation losses by battling inside for rebounds all season even though her natural spot on the court might be at the 3-point line with her sweet shooting stroke.

"All year she has been playing out of position for us at the 4," Nolan said. "She could be our 3 guard, shooting guard. She has such a nice shot. I love having her out on the floor. She works hard. She could have played basketball somewhere too."

Allen isn't quite ready to say goodbye to high school basketball. The winner of the St. Charles East regional advances to the Jacobs sectional next week where the Vikings could see some of the same opponents as they did in last year's postseason like Cary-Grove.

"I don't really want to leave," Allen said. "I do love soccer too. It's going to be sad. We just want to make it to state so we don't have to stop."

Yelle thinks it's possible and knows what it will take.

"We need to believe we can play with any team and we need to know any team can play with us," Yelle said. "So we can't take any team lightly and can't look past any team. That is really a big thing. We need to play our hardest at all times."

Nolan knows she will get that and much more from Allen.

"She is a great rebounder," Nolan said. "She has such a sense for the ball. And she moves so well without the ball, she has a knack for making that right cut. Her basketball IQ always helps us out there."