Whitley's sophomore year: Lighting it up

If breaking school scoring records was one of Taylor Whitley's New Year's resolutions, then she's already checked that box three times.

The Geneva sophomore went over the 30-point mark for the third time this month, breaking her own record by pouring in 38 to lead the Vikings to a 74-63 win over visiting Glenbard South in Western Sun Conference action Tuesday night.

"I honestly didn't know she was anywhere near 30 until there were about two minutes left in the game," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said.

Whitley got off to a quick start, scoring 13 in a rapid-paced first quarter. But Danielle Pipal hit 3 times from beyond the arc, and it was the Raiders (10-12, 4-6) who were on top after one quarter, 20-18.

"We needed to settle down on the offensive end," Nolan said. "We like to play fast-paced, but we weren't executing at that pace."

Pipal added two more 3-pointers in the second quarter, and Nikki Simpson tossed one in as well, as Glenbard South extended its lead despite committing double-digit turnovers in the first half.

"We've been waiting to see that from Danielle," Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda said. "She and Taylor are friends, so it was a night for Danielle to compete. She stepped up and Taylor did as well."

Trailing 34-29 at the break, Nolan knew that she had to make some adjustments on defense. Nolan switched to a man-to-man, which did more than put the clamps on Pipal.

"It really sparked our offense," Whitley said. "We were able to get steals which gave us fastbreak opportunities."

Whitley scored 7 in the third quarter, but it was teammate Janel Schmitt who led the comeback, scoring 10 of her 19 points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that put the Vikings on top 49-47.

With the fastbreak in gear, and Schmitt feeding her teammates as though they were running through drills, the Vikings (20-2, 10-0) were able to build a cushion in the fourth quarter.

"We just had so much momentum, and we just wanted to get ahead and stay ahead," Whitley said.

Simpson kept the Raiders in the game, and Pipal hit from long distance for the sixth time, bringing her point total to 22. But Whitley knocked down 8 of 10 from the line in the final quarter to put the game on ice.

"You really enjoy watching girls basketball games like this one because it shows how far the sport has come," Fonda said.

Whitley scores 33: Taylor Whitley seems to be getting more and more comfortable with each passing game.

While that is great news for the Geneva girls basketball team, opponents might be thinking otherwise.

For the second consecutive game, the 5-foot-8 sophomore guard established a new career-high scoring mark, pouring in 33 points to lead the Vikings (17-2, 8-0) to a 63-17 Western Sun Conference victory over Sycamore (1-14, 0-8) Saturday night in Geneva.

Whitley, who had scored 30 points in the Vikings' 74-32 victory over Rochelle Jan. 9, continued her torrid shooting against the Spartans, connecting on 11 of her 15 shots from the field, including 4-for-4 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"Today, I was on and I was getting good passes from Dana (Friederick) and Janel (Schmitt) and everyone," said Whitley, who added 5 steals, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in a little more than 21 minutes of playing time.

"We just went out there and played our game."