DeKalb stuns Geneva with 3-pointer at buzzer
Jake Jouris hit the shot heard around DeKalb Friday, setting off a celebration that might have might have been heard back in Geneva as well.
Jouris, the same junior who made the last-second driving basket in the Barbs' overtime win over Batavia last week, played the hero role once again Friday. His 3-pointer from the right corner just over the fingertips of a charging Dan Trimble swished through the net as time expired, giving DeKalb an electrifying 55-52 victory.
"It felt perfect," said Jouris, who was immediately mobbed by teammates and students.
"I made the shot from the corner and ended up at the scorer's table somehow," Jouris said of the wild scene on the court.
Electrifying for DeKalb was agonizing for Geneva, who built a 10-point lead with 4:48 left but only made 1 more basket.
"That probably was the worst feeling I've had in awhile," Geneva point guard Nolan Block said. "That was just heartbreaking. Dan was right there, he almost blocked it. That was just a heck of a shot. Kudos to that kid."
The win puts DeKalb (18-6, 9-1) in control of the Western Sun race over Geneva (14-8, 8-3), and if you want to know how the Barbs got there look no further than their two wins over the Vikings - first 48-47 in overtime and now on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"The guy hit a desperation 3 and they really didn't need a 3," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "He had nothing left to lose but chuck it up there. I thought we defended it about as well as we could."
In the past week DeKalb has erased a 6-point deficit with two minutes to go against Batavia and a 10-point deficit against Geneva. The Barbs capitalized on 3 missed free throws to beat Batavia, and against the Vikings it was 6 late turnovers that turned a 49-39 Geneva lead into a 52-49 DeKalb advantage.
Some of the turnovers were unforced Geneva mistakes, some tough pressure from the Barbs and other times there was contact but no whistle.
"We couldn't get a call to save our lives and they hit their shots," Ralston said. "We had six straight turnovers and from our perspective I think some of them were calls I think we could have gotten."
Geneva held DeKalb center Jordan Threloff to 13 points and 5 rebounds; the Barbs countered with 10-of-17 shooting from the 3-point arc. Jouris' 3 with 1:55 left cut Geneva's lead to 49-48, then Dylan Donnelly scored after another turnover to give the Barbs a 50-49 lead, their first since late in the first quarter.
Geneva trailed 52-49 when Trimble buried a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game with 13 seconds left, setting the stage for Jouris' game-winner. The Vikings defended the drive well, forcing a kick-out pass to Jouris.
"Ten-point lead, we should have done a better job closing out the game," Ralston said. "But I'm proud of our kids. I'm not sure many people gave us a chance to walk in here and play that well. Our kids I thought they played an absolutely outstanding game."
The lead changed hands on four straight 3-pointers to end the first quarter - Brandon Beitzel and Trimble connecting for Geneva and Jouris hitting a pair for DeKalb - setting the tone for a physical, entertaining, draining, hotly-contested game. The teams combined for 17 3-pointers, 14 of 15 free-throw shooting and very few turnovers until the final minutes. Geneva gradually kept pushing its lead, from 17-15 after the first quarter to 30-26 at halftime to 41-34 heading to the fourth.
"We knew it was going to be a high intensity crowd and they were going to come out on fire," Block said. "For the first three and a half quarters I was really happy with how we took them and hit them in the mouth first."
Trimble led both teams with 14 points, and Block and Beitzel both added 11. JP Landry continued to play well with 9 points and 8 rebounds.
Donnelly, Brian Sisler and Threloff all scored 13 for the Barbs.