Geneva's Trimble doesn't tremble down the stretch
Dan Trimble had a tried-and-trued solution for every Downers Grove North comeback attempt on Tuesday night.
The Geneva senior forward scored 9 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer with under two minutes to play and four conversions in the bonus.
Trimble then denied the final Trojan salvo with a blocked shot, enabling the Vikings to run out the clock in their 55-51 victory in nonconference boys basketball action in Downers Grove.
Geneva (15-7) never trailed, but the host Trojans were as resilient as an army of ants at a picnic.
Trimble started off the critical fourth quarter by capitalizing on a 2 free throws when Downers North was cited for a technical foul after the third quarter ended. Trimble extended the Vikings' precarious lead to 36-33, but it only set the table for a frantic final eight minutes.
Geneva was still nursing a one-possession lead when Trimble drained a long 3-pointer from the top of the key to double the Vikings' lead to 49-43 with 1:50 to play.
"I didn't even know how much time was left," Trimble said. "I just saw an open shot and fired."
When Brandon Beitzel scored on the Vikings' ensuing possession, the lead was seemingly a comfortable 51-43 with a minute and change remaining.
But Ross Johnson had final delivery to his award-winning monologue for the Trojans. The forward entered the game as the ninth man for Downers North to start the second quarter.
Geneva held Johnson in check during the first half, entering the break with a 23-21 lead. But Johnson scored 10 consecutive team points in the third to engineer one of many Downers North comebacks.
With barely a minute to play, Johnson connected for a 3-pointer along the left baseline.
Trimble hit 2 more free throws to up the spread back to seven, but Johnson followed a Tom Wengren driving score with another 3-pointer off a Downers North steal. With 26 seconds to play, Geneva found itself with a 53-51 lead.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "We scouted them. We left (Johnson) open one too many times."
Johnson scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half. But Trimble had a final answer, and by converting another one-and-one with 14.6 seconds to play, he snuffed out the last Downers North shot.
Geneva had a balanced attack all night: Trimble and sixth-man Dan Hince led the club with 12 points apiece; JP Landry, picking up the slack for injury-addled normal starter Scott Wendt, added 11 points for the Vikings. Point guard Nolan Block added 10 for Geneva.
"We're trying to get the kids to play better down the stretch," Ralston said.