Geneva snaps rare 3-game skid

There were two storylines in play for the Geneva girls basketball team Friday.

First, the Vikings returning to the court with a 71-45 victory over Lane Tech after an eighth-place finish at the Montini Christmas tournament.

The other, doing it as a part of Glenbard West's inaugural Grow the Game event, which was established with the purpose of celebrating and empowering girls and women in basketball.

"We needed to play like that," said Geneva coach Sarah Meadows, whose team is one of 14 taking part in the event, all of which are coached by women. "I also love this event and I love that we got to be a part of it."

Coming off three straight losses to the host Broncos, Bolingbrook and Hersey at Montini, Geneva (11-3) quickly put those in the rear view mirror, jumping out to a 25-12 first quarter lead.

Kate Palmer hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of her 10-point output in the period.

"We learned (at Montini) that we can hang with all the teams," said Palmer, who totaled 13 points and four steals. "We are right there. There are just a few more pieces we have to put together. But we are right there.

"So we wanted to come out and prove that we learned a lot there and that it made us stronger. We are glad we are at that tournament, we get to play those teams and learn about ourselves."

Forcing 18 turnovers in the opening half, the Vikings extended their lead to 45-22 by halftime with Lindsay Blackmore (13 points), Palmer (11) and Kelly McCloughan (10) all reaching double figures.

Blackmore then poured in 10 points during the third quarter to finish with 23 points - to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

"We definitely kind of needed that," Blackmore said. "It was a tough Montini tournament for us. But we learned about what we needed to work on. And today was great, we passed the ball well and really played well as a team.

"Plus this event was neat, we've never done anything like this. It was a cool event to be a part of."

Thirteen different players entered into the scoring column and grabbed rebounds for Geneva, who play defending Class 4A state champion Maine West on Saturday.

Eily Quinn topped Lane Tech (8-6) with 17 points.