Im down in Bloomingon,Illinois for the IHSA girls basketball state champiaonships. And Last night my favorite hgh school girs basketball team gave Geneva their first loss.
Not that they needed any, but the Geneva girls basketball team had a little extra motivation against defending state champion Young Friday night in the Class 4A semifinals.
A quote from Young sophomore Chanise Jenkins made the rounds in the Geneva locker room before the game.
"She said she had no concerns about us," Geneva coach Gina Nolan said.
With 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter, Jenkins, a sophomore guard, and Young suddenly became quite concerned.
Taylor Whitley's layup brought the Vikings all the way back from a 13-point first half deficit, giving them their first - and as it turned out, only - lead of the night.
Young responded like the fourth-ranked team in the country should, dominating Geneva over the final 10 minutes to win 63-42.
The Dolphins (31-1) will go for their second straight state title Saturday night against Bolingbrook (24-4) while Geneva (32-1) plays for third place at 6:30 p.m. against Wheeling (32-2).
"I think there were some teams, probably the team we faced, that doubted we belonged here," Nolan said. "I think we proved we belong. I'm real proud of the comeback in the first half."
Down the stretch, the Vikings got a taste of what they have been giving teams all year. Active hands on defense, pressuring every dribble and pass. On offense, constantly attacking the basket, resulting in layups and second-chance points.
The result was a 23-4 Young advantage on second-chance points, and 42 of their 63 points coming in the paint. Geneva battled, pulling down 37 rebounds led by 14 from Lauren Wicinski, but Young grabbed 49.
The Vikings stayed tied through the first media timeout, 4-4 on layups by Taylor Whitley and Kat Yelle. But there were signs of what was to come, with 2 turnovers and 2 misses under the basket.
Young closed the first quarter outscoring the Vikings12-1. Geneva couldn't keep the Dolphins off the offensive glass while the Vikings missed several close shots they normally don't.
"We were rushing a little, they were the best team we played," Yelle said. "But then we got into it a little more."
Geneva played its best in the second quarter. Down 20-7, the Vikings ran off 10 straight, led by Whitley. The senior drained a pair of 3-pointers and also muscled in a basket inside. Yelle split two free throws with 29 seconds left, leaving Geneva within 22-21 at the break.
Geneva had 5 chances to take the lead in the third quarter, missing a variety of layups, free throws with a turnover. The Vikings kept the pressure up, and when Kelsey Augustine came up with a steal, fed Yelle who hit a streaking Whitley for a layup and Geneva's first lead of the game, 31-30 with 2:29 left in the third quarter.
"We pushed the ball and I think that really helped us," Whitley said. "They definitely are the quickest team we have played so far."
Geneva's comeback seemed to light a fire in Young, especially 6-foot-1 senior Porsha Harris. She came into the game averaging 13.6 rebounds a game, and she had a pair of putback baskets in an 11-2 Young burst to end the third quarter up 41-33.
The Dolphins didn't let up to start the fourth, scoring the first six points for a 47-35 lead. After taking the 31-30 lead, Geneva went cold at the wrong time, scoring just a Wicinski bucket on their next 10 possessions while the Dolphins broke the game open.
Harris finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Ashlee Anderson also had a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) while Jenkins, with the quote that fired up Geneva, scored 13 points to go with 6 assists.
"They were a good team and they gave us the fight we expected," Young coach Corry Irvin said. "We finally put it all together in the fourth quarter-we found good shots and limited the touches of their players that we wanted to."
Whitley led Geneva with 25 points but nobody else scored more than 7 - the rest of the team combined to shoot 7 of 36. Yelle had 5 steals, and Emily Hinchman 5 assists.
"We didn't have the balance in scoring we've had most of the season," Nolan said. "That definitely hurt us."
No comments:
Post a Comment