Whitley's senior year: Best season ever

It's time to see how that Sea of Blue looks in Red.

For the first time in school history, Geneva's girls basketball team is headed to state - the first time any Vikings basketball team is state-bound in 46 years.

The Vikings' defense suffocated New Trier early in the Class 4A Loyola University supersectional Monday night, building enough of a lead to overcome a shaky final three minutes and win 54-49.

Geneva (32-0) will play Young at 8:15 p.m. Friday in the Class 4A semifinals at Redbird Arena in Normal. Young won on a 3-pointer at the buzzer 78-76 in double overtime over Marian.

"We're so excited, we can't believe it," Geneva senior Taylor Whitley said. "Each game we're getting more excited."

New Trier (30-5), like Lake Park in a 23-point loss in last week's sectional championship, never knew what hit them while falling behind 24-9 at halftime.

"We dug a 10-foot whole and only had a 9-foot ladder," New Trier coach Teri Rodgers said. "They are a great team, very quick, very aggressive. That second quarter cost us the game."

This year's undefeated girls team joins the Geneva boys teams from 1908 and 1963 as the only ones to get to state. Because that 1963 team lost to Carver in the quarterfinals, this Geneva team has now advanced farther than any other.

Pretty good, pretty exclusive, company.

"I almost can't believe it," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said. "At this point of year it doesn't matter how pretty it is at end, it just matters who wins."

As it has all year, Geneva's defense set the tone. New Trier scored on its first two possessions, then only one of its last nine to end the first quarter. Emily Hinchman had 2 steals and Kat Yelle another as the Trevians turned the ball over 5 times in the final 5 minutes of the first quarter.

Geneva kept up the pressure in the second quarter. New Trier only had 1 field goal, a basket by Abbey Schmitt with 36 seconds to go in the half - ending a stretch of 13 minutes, 16 seconds Geneva held New Trier without a field goal.

At one point in the quarter, the Vikings held New Trier scoreless on 10 straight possessions. Geneva led 38-25 after three quarters before a 24-point fourth quarter by New Trier, plus some missed free throws by the Vikings, let the Trevians get as close as 53-49.

By that point only 15 seconds remained. Whitley added a free throw, Hinchman grabbed the rebound on New Trier's last shot, and the celebration began.

"We put a lot of work into it," said Hinchman, who scored 14 points to tie Whitley for high scorer. Lauren Wicinski had 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Geneva wins sectional: Faced with uncharted water, Geneva did what it always does.

The Vikings won.

Claiming the first sectional title in program history and staying perfect through 31 games this season, Geneva's girls basketball team beat Lake Park 70-47 in Thursday's Class 4A Addison Trail sectional championship game.

The Vikings (31-0) advance to the Loyola University supersectional to play New Trier, a 43-37 winner over Loyola, in a 7:30 p.m. Monday game in Chicago. A win on Monday sends Geneva to Normal and the Final Four.

"Since last summer this team has had a bigger vision," said Geneva coach Gina Nolan. "Goals and hopes of making it farther than any team has ever done in Geneva history. We've done that now, but that's not the end of the road."

Kat Yelle and Taylor Whitley scored 25 points apiece for the Vikings. Yelle also added 6 steals while Whitley had 7 rebounds.

"We're just really happy with how we played," Indiana State-bound Whitley said. "Everyone is so pumped we can't believe it. First time in Geneva history."

Geneva wins semifinal thriller: Turning 30 brings a wave of mixed emotions - often a chance to look back at the fun times while wondering how life can fly by so fast.

Who knew it also brought sweaty palms, racing heartbeats and knots in your stomach?

That's what the Geneva girls basketball team went through Monday night in the Class 4A Addison Trail sectional semifinals. Twelfth-seed Elk Grove had the unbeaten Vikings on the ropes until Geneva scored the game's final 9 points in the last 1:30 to win 66-57.

Geneva (30-0) kept its season alive in its first true test. If not for Taylor Whitley's 3-pointer at the buzzer, this would have been the Vikings' closet margin of victory this year, and it certainly is the only game in doubt in the final seconds.

"I'm so proud of the girls the way they responded," Geneva coach Gina Nolan. "I think people have questioned us all year how we would respond in a close game and I think the girls definitely responded tonight. We had a lot of adversity with foul trouble and not the best shooting night."

Tied at 57, Geneva got the ball in the hands of its starTaylor Whitley. She drove in the lane, drew contact and made the basket.

Elk Grove had handled Geneva's diamond press pretty well all night, with 14 turnovers to that point, only to break down in the final 30 seconds with turnovers on its final four possessions.

Three more free throws by Yelle and Whitley's 3-pointer made the 9-point final margin misleading.

Whitley finished with 18 points, 7 assists and 5 steals. Emily Hinchman added 13 points and Sam Dudman scored 8 first-half points off the bench, giving Geneva a needed boost with Wicinski and Augustine in foul trouble.

"I thought we really played as a team toward the end in crunch time," Whitley said. "We all did our part to pull it out."