Geneva 59, Yorkville 47

Oh the joys of youth.

The Geneva girls basketball team routinely fields a quintet as young as any in the area. Friday, for example, the Vikings started two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman against Yorkville.

And it was the youngest of these -- freshman Sam Scofield, coupled with fellow freshman Kat Yelle, who helped key the Vikings to their 59-47 Western Sun Conference victory over the Foxes.

"Depth has been one of our strengths all year," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "Some people who have gotten more varsity experience are stepping off the bench and really contributing."

Scofield scored 6 of her 10 points in the third quarter and helped turn a close ballgame into a contest where the Vikings (17-5, 10-1) had breathing room.

Midway through that third quarter, Scofield tipped away the ball, collected the steal, steamed in on the basket, and scored to give Geneva a 38-32 lead. While it wasn't a killing basket, it stopped Yorkville's last chance to make the contest truly competitive.

"I got the ball and I just went," Scofield said. "They got down when we scored back-to-back, and we just wanted to put them away."

Until the third quarter, Yorkville stayed close to the Vikings. Much of that was down to the play of Sarah O'Leary, who scored a game-high 23 points. But the Vikings trailed for less than 1 minute of game time, and put things quickly back together.

Importantly, the Vikings held the rest of the Yorkville team in check. Then they limited O'Leary to 2 points in the fourth quarter.

"It wasn't the best we've ever played," Scofield said. "But we got enough flow to get points. We pulled it out and it's a good win."

As they attempted to get on track, Yelle was key. The Vikings worked the ball around patiently, and got Yelle free with chances to drive. She scored 12 points, half in the second quarter and the other half in the fourth quarter.

"It's very nice finding seams," Yelle said. "That's what I've been trying to do this whole season. This is the first game where I've felt comfortable to drive in the open seams."

Being a part of the evening's offensive diversification was enjoyable for Yelle, who checked in as her team's second-leading scorer.

"It's good," Yelle said. "They've all done it and I really wanted to be a part of it."

Taylor Whitley scored 18 points to lead the Vikings and her contributions came at important times. She scored 6 points in the first quarter and added 7 points in the fourth quarter.

Those fourth quarter points helped Geneva keep the Foxes at arm's length. The lead never dropped below 5 points in the final quarter.

"I never felt like we had a comfortable lead," Nolan said. "We had to fight every possession."

Wheaton Academy 44, Timothy Christian 36:ŒWheaton Academy guard Alexa Sharkey says her team usually plays its best basketball of the game during the third quarter. That proved true in Friday's Private School League showdown on the road against Timothy Christian.

The Warriors held the Trojans scoreless in the third quarter and scored 10 points of their own to go ahead by 16 points with eight minutes to play. Inspired by the crowd on homecoming in Elmhurst, Timothy Christian rallied in the fourth quarter but couldn't overcome the deficit.

"We really took it to them and picked up the intensity," Sharkey said. "They didn't know what hit them. Defense and communication -- knowing where each other were on the floor -- were key for us."

"Defensive pressure was great in the first half and in the third quarter," said Wheaton Academy coach Beth Mitchell, whose team led 10-4 at the end of the first quarter and 25-19 at halftime.

Sharkey was the catalyst on both ends of the court for the Warriors (14-8, 5-3). Offensively, she led all scorers with a game-high 21 points, scoring the bulk of her points around the basket and with short jumpers. Six of her points came in the third quarter. The crafty sophomore guard also had 7 steals.

"Alexa is a versatile player," Mitchell said. "She reads real well (defensively) and does a great job seeing the floor. We executed well and did a good job with our game plan."

A free throw by guard Jenn Lee early in the fourth quarter gave the Warriors a 17-point advantage. The Trojans (13-10, 5-3) decided enough was enough and turned it up. Guards Katie Dirkse, Shannon McNeil and Kelsey Kaczynski along with forward Lindsay VanderBrug all hit clutch shots to lead the Timothy Christian comeback.

VanderBrug finished with a team-high 11 points and McNeil added 10.

It was Dirkse who came up with two big plays off Warriors turnovers to pull the Trojans within 6 with 32.3 seconds to play. The junior scored on a strong drive to the hoop and then got a huge offensive rebound and sank a jump shot in the lane.

Wheaton Academy kept its distance, though, on a pair of free throws by Lee, who was 5 of 6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

"This is a hard loss to swallow with all of the homecoming festivities," said Timothy Christian coach Ryan DeKoekkoek, who noted that two of his players were on the homecoming court (VanderBrug and Candace Wieringa who was named queen).

"We missed 10 or 12 different assignments and let them dictate the pressure. Wheaton Academy took advantage. (Sharkey's) quickness in the middle of the lane gave us fits all night long."

-- Brian Pitts