New Trier all that stands between Geneva and state
Success for Geneva athletics in what's becoming an unforgettable 2008-09 school year is no longer measured by conference championships.
Not after the girls cross country team won another state title.
Not after the football team reached the state championship game for the first time in 33 years.
And not for the Geneva girls basketball team, which will play in its first supersectional at Loyola University against New Trier (30-4) at 7:30 p.m. Monday. The Vikings enter at 31-0.
"It was fun to follow football all year and now it's fun to go down and be part of it of us doing that," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said.
"I'm so happy for the girls and for our school. We had such a good turnout, it was so nice to have that support. It's the culmination of so many long hours in the summer, in the fall, now in the season, and this is what all that work is for. It's for now. It's really paying off."
Geneva advanced to this game by beating Lake Park 70-47 Thursday. New Trier also played Lake Park this year, beating the Lancers by a similar 65-42 score.
St. Charles North played New Trier in the semifinals of the Charger Classic at Dundee-Crown in December. New Trier won 50-42 in a game the North Stars led 34-26 with 7:37 remaining.
The Trevians, like Geneva with sophomore Kat Yelle playing a big role, have a mix of younger and older players. Six-foot sophomore Abbey Schmitt leads the team, while senior guard Lauren Mathy might be the best outside shooter. Five-8 junior Molly Quirke is athletic with long arms and might be matched with Whitley.
Freshman Maggie Lyon and senior Maeve Campbell also play key roles. Schmitt was the top scorer in their 43-37 sectional win over Loyola with 16 points.
"They are real solid," Nolan said. "They don't have a ton of height but have some real nice guards and some good outside shooters from what I saw."
The teams play at the Gentile Center. If Geneva wins, it obviously will continue playing on the bigger college courts at Illinois State.
Maybe those courts will play into Geneva's up-tempo style.
"That's OK," Nolan said of the bigger court. "We'll run them. It will be a great challenge and what we've worked for. New Trier is a great team obviously and we'll just play our game."
Geneva's all-time leading scorer Taylor Whitley is coming off a 25-point game in the sectional finals against Lake Park, which pushes her career total to 2,080.
"This summer our team went to the Purdue camp and we played on a college floor," Whitley said. "Hopefully it won't affect us. I think with our speed it could help us more."
Yelle will be playing in the supersectional Monday after coming off her own super sectional at Addison Trail. Monday she led Geneva with 20 points; Thursday she tied Whitley with 25 points while going 8 of 8 at the free-throw line.
"We've just got to play our ball," Yelle said. "If we are playing bad we need to just keep our heads up no matter what happens and get back into it. If we just play like we can, we'll do well."
Geneva students can take a fan bus to the game. Tickets for the bus are $1, and it leaves at 5 p.m.