Geneva storms back to down South Elgin in OT
Things were not looking good for the Geneva girls basketball team in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.
But as quickly as the Vikings had fallen behind at South Elgin, they regained the momentum by finding their shooting touch from behind the 3-point line.
A 3-pointer by Morgan Seberger with 21 seconds left in regulation tied the game, South Elgin missed two potential game-winners in the paint — one at the buzzer — and Geneva dominated in overtime to come away with a 72-66 Upstate Eight Conference crossover win.
“I’m so proud of my teammates,” said Geneva senior Makayla Loebel, who scored 7 of her 11 points in the overtime period, including the Vikings’ first six. “We all stepped up. South Elgin is a great team and it’s amazing how we all stuck together. Without each individual we wouldn’t have come back like we did.”
South Elgin (3-3) overcame an 0-for-11 shooting start to come back and eventually take a 25-23 lead at halftime. The Storm extended the advantage to 44-37 by the end of the third quarter and still led 52-46 when Kennede Miller made 2 free throws as the result of a technical foul on Geneva coach Sarah Meadows. But the Storm was unable to extend the lead on the ensuing possession and Seberger nailed a 3-pointer with 1:49 left to begin Geneva’s comeback.
South Elgin was able to get 2 free throws from sophomore Nadia Yang with 1:14 to play and another from her with 50 seconds left to go up 55-52 but Seberger drained a 3 from the cheap seats with 21 seconds to go and South Elgin missed two layups in the final five seconds to send the game to overtime.
Loebel hit a 3-pointer 15 seconds into the extra session, then made a basket and a free throw 20 seconds later. South Elgin turned the ball over on its next possession and junior Janie McCloughan scored on the other end and just a minute into overtime Geneva (4-1) had a 63-55 lead.
“We didn’t take care of the ball down the stretch and we missed a couple layups,” said South Elgin coach Tim Prendergast. “If we finish those we win the game. They knocked down a couple huge 3s and Geneva played really well down the stretch. In the overtime they had the momentum and they had a little more energy than us.
“But I’m really proud of the way we responded. It’s good to play a game like this early in the season.”
McCloughan led Geneva with 13 points, while Loebel, Seberger and Sydney Santos (10 rebounds), who celebrated her 18th birthday, had 11 each and Madeline Dunn added 10. The Vikings were 22 of 54 shooting and turned the ball over 20 times as both teams played tough pressure defense all night.
“We knew it would be a good game,” Meadows said. “South Elgin is a tough team and they play hard. They don’t stop and they’re very scrappy. We were preaching at halftime that somebody has to step up and Makayla did.”
Yang led South Elgin with 20 points. Uveges added 14 and Anna Tracy 10 for the Storm, which shot just 20-for-61 but did win the rebounding battle 45-41, led by 11 from freshman Mackie Kelleher, who also scored 8 points.