Whitley's freshman year: Instant impact
Geneva freshman guard Taylor Whitley wasn't planning on being the hero - but that's the way things turned out for her in the closing seconds of the Vikings' nonconference girls basketball game at St. Charles North.
In addition to the Vikings storming back from 20 points down and Bailey Hansen hitting a key 3-pointer, Whitley had a steal and basket that led to the Geneva's 47-45 win against the North Stars at St. Charles North Saturday.
"We just wanted to stop them," Whitley said of preventing the North Stars from scoring a last-second basket to win the game. "We were thinking we were going to go into overtime, and then all of the sudden, the ball was in my hands. I didn't even know what happened and then (my shot) went in (in the) last couple seconds."
Geneva (19-3) trailed the entire game until the final 4.4 seconds. That's when Hansen hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game at 45.
"I don't lose faith in her. She's hit a lot of big shots for us this year," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said of Hansen. "She's a player. I'm happy for her the shot went in."
Right after that, as St. Charles North inbounded the ball, Whitley swiped one of her game-high 6 steals and put up a layup at the buzzer.
"Taylor always gives 100 percent when she is on the court," Hansen said. 'It's awesome. She definitely deserved it. She was pushing the whole game and that last (steal), she got it. She doesn't hold back when she is out there."
It was anyone's guess who was going to come out the winner prior to the game. The first time these teams met on Nov. 19, Geneva won, 52-32, at its own Thanksgiving Holiday Tournament. The second time, the North Stars came out the winners, 49-39, at the Oswego Holiday Classic Dec. 21.
And if the North Stars and Vikings played a fourth time this season? "It would be close," St. Charles North coach John Rutter said.
Hansen finished with 15 points, 2 blocks and 6 rebounds while Whitley netted a game-high 22 points and 8 rebounds. The North Stars were led by Jess Najarian, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kelsey Smith added 9 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Geneva wins regional title: Geneva survived a 5-point first quarter and a late West Chicago surge to claim its first regional title in nearly two decades and its first at the Class AA level by a score of 41-32 Thursday at Geneva.
The low score was the product of both poor shooting and outstanding defensive efforts by both teams.
"The shots not falling didn't worry me," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "The couple of times that we got beat back on defense, and throwing the ball away, those are the things that they know I get frustrated with."
The Vikings seemed to have the game in hand when they scored eight straight and led 33-21 in the fourth quarter, but West Chicago went on an 11-0 run that included a key 3-pointer by Kelsey Monroe and basket by Melissa Olsen to cut the lead to 33-32 with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
"We've got to give the credit to Geneva, they had a nice game plan and took us out of our game," West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said.
West Chicago (14-15) never got any closer than one point, as Geneva freshman Taylor Whitley calmly hit her free throws down the stretch, as did teammates Caty Whitley and Bailey Hansen.
"I knew it was going to be a hard, back and forth game," Taylor Whitley said. "We just needed to sink our free throws, and then we wanted to keep playing good team defense."
Kate Norton scored six points in the first quarter to stake the Wildcats to an 8-1 lead. The Vikings' offense started to get into a rhythm late in the opening quarter and that got the home crowd into the game.
Geneva rode that momentum through much of the second quarter and led 18-16 at the break.