Geneva's Rasmussen stops defending champion Glenbard West with 3-pointer at the buzzer

After Geneva's Jimmy Rasmussen canned four 3-pointers in the first half of Friday night's Class 4A regional championship, Glenbard West adjusted its defense in the second half to make it harder for the senior to get open looks.

The strategy paid off. Rasmussen sank only one 3-pointer in the second half, but it was the most critical Vikings basket of the night.

Rasmussen's shot from the left corner swished the net as time expired and gave Geneva a 43-42 win and a regional crown.

Geneva advanced to the Bartlett sectional and will face DuKane Conference rival Wheaton Warrenville South in the second semifinal on Wednesday. The Tigers beat the Vikings twice in regular-season play.

"It just kind of happened like that," Rasmussen said about taking the game-winning shot. "We always talk about passing it once more to the open man and it just happened to be me."

The senior led all scorers with 17 points.

It was the Vikings' second attempt in the waning seconds to avoid a regulation loss. On its previous possession, Tommy Diamond's game-tying shot was blocked by Glenbard West's Logan Brown. Geneva got the ball back with five seconds to go on Diamond's rebound. Diamond finished the night with 11 points.

Geneva (23-9) led the contest on its home court up until the end of the third quarter when another 3-point buzzer-beater by Glenbard West's Benji Zander (9 points) put the Hilltoppers in front 30-28. The 3-pointer from the top key ended a Glenbard West come from behind rally. Geneva, which managed only 5 points in the quarter, had a 23-14 half-time advantage.

"At halftime we made some adjustments and we put ourselves in a position to win the game,' said Glenbard West coach Jason Opoka. "The major lesson we want to learn after this is sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way and the other team makes a play.".

Glenbard West (19-13) extended is lead to 38-33 on a Jack Oberhofer putback and free throw with 4:47 left to play. The senior, who led the Hilltoppers in scoring with 15 points, twice made clutch free throws to keep his team in front. Oberhofer's last two with 1:23 left on the clock put Glenbard West ahead 41-38.

Tanner Dixon also had a hand in Geneva's dramatic win. The senior connected on two free throws with 57 seconds left to play the pulled his team within in a point, 41-40, With 25 seconds on the clock, Dixon snared Zander's missed free throw that set up Diamond's shot.

"I thought our execution during the last four minutes was really good. When we went back door to Jimmy, their best athlete made a block," Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. "I thought our (team) did a great job of staying with the game plan even when we weren't making shots in the second half."

Glenbard West, the defending Class 4A champion, made a good showing this year, according to Opoka.

"After winning the state championship last year and everybody not thinking that we were going to be anything this year, I think that these seniors and juniors showed everybody that we can play with anybody," the Glenbard West coach said.