York falls to Geneva

It was not a game that will win any style points, but Ashley Santos summarized it best.

"A win," said Geneva's Marquette-bound senior, "is a win."

The No. 3 Vikings went scoreless for the game's first four minutes and were held to a season-low point total but got it done with defense in a 48-32 win over No. 10 York at the Benet/Naperville North Tournament on Thursday in Lisle.

Missed shots, turnovers and jump balls were the dominant theme, but three-time defending tournament champ Geneva (10-0) will take it and move on to a tough next two weekend matchups against Benet and Wheaton Warrenville South.

"We started off a little bit rocky," Santos said, "but as the game wore on we got more and more confident and more conscientious defensively."

Rachel Hinchman scored 15 points and Sami Pawlak had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Geneva. The Vikings took the lead for good with an 8-0 run to close the first quarter up 12-5, and a 6-0 run capped by a Pawlak score off a turnover opened up a double-digit lead.

York (7-4), which shot 25 percent from the field Tuesday in a 38-35 loss to Proviso West, again struggled with 24.5 percent shooting. Dukes coach Jason Reinecke knows he has more firepower than that.

Geneva's aggressive nature can make teams look worse than they are.

"We were getting good looks and good shots they were just not falling," Reinecke said. "The frustrating thing is we were coming off a game where it was the identical thing. It's good shooters getting good looks that aren't falling. I can't fault my kids' effort."

Geneva already led 26-15 at halftime but in the third quarter started to double on screens, which pressured York into turnovers. Hinchman and Santos both turned turnovers into baskets, a precious commodity in a game like Thursday's.

"One of the things that Geneva does so well is they get out on the fastbreak," Reinecke said. "In a game like this where every basket is crucial that can be very important."

"We do much better when we can score off our defense," agreed Geneva coach Sarah Meadows.

Meadows admitted the first half was "pretty ugly" and credited York for being the rare opponent to match her team's scrap and hustle. Although the Vikings do enjoy playing at a fast pace, she is preaching patience.

"There's times that we need to read what the defense is giving us, and set things up," Meadows said. "It's OK to play fast at times, but sometimes we need to slow ourselves down and set up an offense."

Anna Bell Lansdowne scored 11 points for York. Geneva's aggressiveness also paid off on the offensive glass, where the Vikings pulled down 12 rebounds.

"Coach is always on us to hustle," Santos said, "whether it is to scrap for rebounds or hustle for a loose ball. We know when our offense is off like it was tonight our defense can get us going."