Geneva spreads it around in season-opening win

While her teammates enjoyed capturing conference and sectional championships last year, Geneva's Taylor Williams watched in street clothes from the bench.

Neither snow, sleet, nor rain was going to stop her return to the basketball court on Saturday.

Williams, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, scored 6 points and grabbed 7 rebounds as the sixth girl off the bench during the Vikings' 68-36 season-opening victory over Oak Lawn (0-1) at the 20th annual Glenbard East/Rachel Bach Memorial Tournament in Lombard.

"It felt good to be back out there again," said Williams, who entered the game midway through the first quarter and scored her first points since sophomore year by draining a pair of free throws with 3:43 left in the opening stanza.

"It was tough (last year) but I learned a lot by watching."

Williams' first-half statistical line included 6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

"She's moving pretty well," Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said of Williams. "I know she's ready to go."

Meadows likes Williams' floor game for more than her offensive and defensive numbers.

"She plays physical and she dives and gets on the floor (for loose balls). She'll add a lot."

Against Oak Lawn, the Vikings didn't need a whole lot after racing out to a 14-0 lead in the first 3-plus minutes of the game.

Junior forward/center Grace Loberg accounted for half of the Vikings' early surge with layups off feeds from Stephanie Hart and Colleen Grady as well as a three-point play assisted by Maddy Yelle.

Capitalizing off their full-court pressure, the Vikings pocketed 8 first-quarter steals - 3 by Hart - while building a 23-9 lead.

Another 10-0 run in the second quarter helped the Vikings put the game away.

The surge included Hart's 3-point basket from the top of the key, an offensive rebound putback by Grady, a layup by Loberg and Yelle's medium-range jumper.

That type of balanced scoring was pleasing to watch for Meadows.

"We talked about that at halftime," said the coach. "That's what we want. We want to share the ball and work it with everybody. I was very happy with that."

Geneva extended its lead to 56-26 after 3 quarters and to as many as 36 (66-30) while Meadows got valuable playing time for all 14 players in uniform.

Loberg scored a game-high 15 points with 4 rebounds and 4 steals in 2-plus quarters of action, while senior guard Jen Cale came off the bench to add 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Margaret Whitley, Grady and Yelle scored 8 points apiece, and 6-foot junior Emma Harkleroad chipped in with 6 points.

Hart, who started alongside classmate Whitley as freshmen last season, finished with 4 points, 4 steals and a team-high 8 rebounds.

"They got a good year in last year," said Meadows. "Now they know that those seniors (Janie McCloughan, Abby Novak and others) graduated so it's their turn. They stepped up and looked good today."

Geneva will face Andrew Monday night.

Madelyn McGrath and Kelly Touchie had 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Oak Lawn.