Geneva 69, Batavia 50

Taylor Whitley has produced several huge games in her three years with the Geneva girls basketball team, but Tuesday's performance was perhaps one of the biggest.

The junior guard scored 30 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and had 6 steals in a 69-50 win against rival Batavia in the Class 4A Bartlett regional semifinal.

"We talked before the game, and I encouraged her to relax and take it to them out there," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "She did that, and that's a credit to the incredible player she is on the offensive end and the defensive end."

With the win, No. 10 seed Geneva (21-6) will face No. 2 seed Schaumburg (26-5) in the regional final Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Saxons beat Bartlett 73-50.

In the regular season, Batavia beat Geneva three times by a combined total of 13 points. All three games were close.

"(Winning Tuesday) just makes us feel so much better," Geneva guard Emily Hinchman said. "We played with a lot of confidence and did not want to lose to them again."

The playoff game, however, wasn't that close. The Vikings led by as much as 26 and jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead after Whitley scored the first 5 points of the game.

Batavia never took the lead, but was able to cut Geneva's lead to 32-27 at the half after going on a 9-2 run to close the second quarter.

"Off the get-go, we dug ourselves a hole," Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said. "It was a 5 point game (at the half), a two possession game…all we had to do was execute in the third quarter and we just didn't…we dug ourselves back into a big hole."

Geneva, however, pushed its lead back up to double-digits for good after going on a 13-0 run in the middle of the third quarter. The Vikings ended up outscoring the Bulldogs 27-8 in that quarter.

The Vikings' largest lead of the game arrived with 5:36 remaining after a pair of Whitley's free throws.

In addition to Whitley, Hinchman finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds along with Kat Yelle's 10 points and 6 rebounds.

"(Whitley) had a pretty solid supporting cast tonight," Nolan said. "I'm really, really proud of my kids tonight. They played their hearts out."

"We never let down," Whitley said. "Everyone had key moments in the game. Everyone kept the momentum going."

Batavia, which capped its Western Sun Conference championship season 20-5, was led by Natalie Tarter's 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kara Lydon finished with 14 points.

"We just didn't do it tonight," DeBruycker said. "I don't mind losing when you put everything out on the floor, but I don't think we did that tonight."

Schaumburg 73, Bartlett 50:ŒSchaumburg girls basketball coach Bill Murmann held senior stars Gabrielle Blackwell and Kylie Castans out of the Saxons' regular-season finale Saturday against St. Viator due to injuries.

The rest appeared to do wonders for the pair, as they helped lead the Saxons to a Class 4A Bartlett Regional semifinal win over the host Hawks on Tuesday 73-50.

Castans, suffering from plantar fasciitis in her foot, scored 14 points and hauled down a game-high 17 rebounds. Blackwell, recovering from a hamstring injury, added 17 points in the win.

"She was moving a little bit tender, but she's fine," Murmann said of Blackwell. "She was explosive in spurts, which was nice to see. It was a big test for Kylie. She hasn't played in three days. Her injury is getting better. They both contributed very well."

Having Blackwell and Castans back after a one-game layoff was nice for Schaumburg (26-5), but fellow 1,000-point scorer Drewann Pancratz was doing just fine herself, especially early. She scored 9 of her game-high 24 points in the first quarter, helping the Saxons jump out to an 18-2 lead to start.

"Drew had a great offensive game," Murmann said. "She was in a tremendous flow."

Castans struggled from the field, hitting only 4-of-16 shots, but the team's leading scorer found a way to contribute with her 17 rebounds. That was part of a 59-32 rebounding edge held by the Saxons.

"I took a couple shots and I was off, so I figured I should crash the boards," Castans said. "Drew was hitting tonight, which was nice."

The Saxons' offensive juggernaut caught the young Hawks (10-19) off guard, particularly early. After not scoring for the first 5:20 of the game, the closest Bartlett ever came to Schaumburg was 25-14 on a 3-point play from Sam Salinas.

"We knew we had our hands full from the beginning," Bartlett coach Denise Sarna said. "We identified their offensive weapons. Unfortunately for us, they have a lot of them and they were on. We let Drewann get some good looks. Their physical size underneath was tough for us."

Freshman center Jacki Gulczynski led the Hawks with 23 points and 7 rebounds, giving Sarna hope for the future. Bartlett had only one senior, guard Katie Koster, on the team this season.

"I remember watching this Schaumburg team when they were young," Sarna said. "They took their lumps and they built themselves up to be a good team, and certainly that's what we hope to do."

Schaumburg will be back at Bartlett on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to play for the regional championship against Geneva, a 69-60 winner over Batavia in Tuesday's other semifinal game.

"We beat (Bartlett) on their home floor," Murmann said. "It was supposed to be a neutral site, but it wasn't. We handled it pretty well. It was a good game and we're looking forward to moving on."

-- Paul Johnson