Trimble shoots Geneva past Kaneland at United Center
Whatever problems with depth perception a shooter is supposed to have in a big arena had no effect on Geneva junior Dan Trimble Saturday at the United Center.
Trimble connected on four of his six 3-point attempts, hitting a pair of them in the deciding fourth quarter of Geneva's 49-40 victory in front of approximately 800 fans.
"During the warmups I was off at first but I got used to it," Trimble said. "I was just shooting like normal, didn't really think about anything."
Geneva (17-9, 9-4) defeated Kaneland (15-9, 6-7) for the second time this season and second straight year at the United Center, winning 58-39 last season. Kaneland senior Dave Dudzinski was one of the few players on either team to play significant minutes in that game, and he looked comfortable from the start Saturday.
The Holy Cross recruit started the game with an 18-foot jumper on Kaneland's first possession. He followed with a pair of 3-pointers from the top of the key to force Geneva coach Phil Ralston into an early timeout down 8-1.
"He made shot after shot and he's going to be playing in the big stage in his future," Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said.
Geneva senior Nolan Block didn't mind the longer NBA court when he took the ball from one end of the court to the other in 4.9 seconds and scooped in a layup as the first quarter horn sounded.
Kaneland stayed on top the entire first half. The Knights led 19-18 at halftime after the Vikings made just 5 of 24 shots from the field in the first half.
"Fortunately our kids settled down, they worked better on trying to get shots inside which opened up perimeter shots for us which we hit," Ralston said.
Geneva warmed up in the third quarter. Down 24-18, Geneva went on a 14-2 spurt, a run started by Trimble's 3-pointer and followed by Block's 3 that tied the game at 24. Geneva wound up with as many 3-pointers (7) as 2-point field goals.
Kaneland scored the final 6 points of the third quarter to tie the game at 32 heading to the fourth. After Trimble's 3-pointer opened the final quarter, Dudzinski and Donavan Williams both scored to put Kaneland ahead for the final time, 36-35. Williams' basket came on a behind-the-back feed from point guard Ryley Bailey (4 assists, 3 steals).
Michael Santacaterina's first basket of the game on a strong drive gave Geneva a 37-36 lead with 4:49 remaining. Santacaterina followed with a steal and layup.
Kaneland made one final charge, pulling within 43-40 on Dudzinski's jumper and 2 free throws, then didn't score again over the final 2:54. Block, who returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday's win over Larkin with a back injury, iced the win with 3 free throws in the final 1:01.
"It was an advantage being out there in warmups and the fifth quarter at the end," Block said of playing in last year's game. "It was easier to get acclimated to the court and surroundings."
Dudzinski led both teams with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. He hit 8 of 12 shots from the field while the rest of the Knights went 9 for 27.
Trimble (16 points), Block (10) and JP Landry (10) all scored in double figures for Geneva, who made 14 of its 20 free throws to 3 of 4 for the Knights.
"We're getting close to turning the corner," Johnson said. "They did a nice job of forcing us to play a little quick and make some poor decisions at times. But the guys played really hard. Geneva hit some big shots and stepped up defensively and I thought we did a nice job defensively."
The teams followed the varsity game with a 10-minute "fifth quarter" for the reserves. Connor Quinn and Dan Hince hit NBA-range 3s helping Geneva top Kaneland 14-9.
While Geneva and Kaneland won't play each other next year, both coaches said they would like to keep a United Center game on their schedule.
"We hope it's something we can do in the future," Ralston said. "It's up to the Bulls having the dates and obviously up to us to make sure we have a fan base that can make it here and the third thing is you have to find a team that's willing to do it."
"Coming here they treat you wonderfully and feel kind of special being in an NBA arena," Johnson said.