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Lady Knights defeated by shot in OT
KHS falls victim to Geneva comeback
by Mike Slodki
So close.
After putting up an effort that matched their competition, Kaneland was close, seconds away, from putting on an upset for the ages and giving KHS coach Ernie Colombe his biggest win on Tuesday.
However, close was enough for Taylor Whitley to nail a jump shot with 3.6 seconds remaining in overtime, completing a game-long comeback and sending the Lady Knights to a 65-64 defeat.
The Lady Knights, despite showing the present fans that they are a steadily improving group, fell to 6-12 with a 1-6 record in the Western Sun Conference.
Geneva improved to 13-4 and 6-1 in WSC play.
Kaneland also handed host Burlington Central a 44-36 loss on Saturday and dropped a 54-39 affair to host Batavia on Friday.
The Lady Knights lost in their first meeting with Geneva in December, 61-27.
“This shows we’re improved,” KHS coach Ernie Colombe said. “We lost by over 30 points the first meeting and we’ve played seven solid games in a row. The girls are really taking to what we’re doing. We thought we could beat them.”
Whitley had 25 points for Geneva, Katie Hatch and Brittney Hankes had 19 points apiece while Sara Rose had 10.
The Lady Knights went 21-for-59 from the field and 22-for-37 from the foul line, but went just 7-for-17 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“We started rushing a little bit and every team goes through that. Give Geneva credit for coming back, but we keep getting better all the time and the kids have a great attitude,” Colombe said.
Geneva couldn’t get it’s shot going in the first quarter and Kaneland ramped up the pressure on both ends, going out to an 18-15 lead after one quarter.
After Geneva went up 25-22, Alyssa Galvan hit a jumper, Hankes hit a shot and then dished to Rose on the next possession for a 28-25 lead with 1:24 to go.
Rose hit a basket with 22.1 ticks left in the half for a five-point lead. After Geneva hit a shot with 8.7 to go, Mallory Huml nailed a buzzer-beater to help KHS go up at the half, 32-27.
Kaneland saw its biggest lead occur on a Lesley Winslow shot down low with 4:57 to go in the third, making it 41-33.
Geneva scored six straight before Huml’s shot with 3:10 to go made it 43-39. Hankes’ jumper with 8.1 to go in the third made it 47-41 going into the fourth quarter.
Geneva closed the gap and stayed competitive even as two Hankes foul shots gave the Lady Knights a 57-52 lead with 1:36 to play. The Lady Vikings tied matters with a three-pointer and a jump shot at 57-57 with 1:02 to go. Hankes hit the second of two free throws with 35 seconds to go for a 58-57 lead. Whitley hit the first of two foul shots with 17.3 ticks left in regulation to send the game to overtime at 58 apiece.
In the extra period and Geneva leading 59-58, Huml hit a free throw to tie it at 59 with 2:36 remaining. Whitley’s jumper gave Geneva a 61-59 lead with 2:28 to go before Hankes’ two foul shots tied it at 61 with 2:09 to go.
Huml hit one free throw and Winslow put back her second foul shot miss to go up 64-61 with 1:41 to go. However, Whitley hit a jumper with a minute to play to cut it to one. Huml missed two free throws leading to Whitley’s game-winning jumper.
Kaneland’s defense held the Rockets to 16 second-half points and took the ball away 13 times in that half. Hatch had 17 points, while Huml had nine points.
Huml led the way at Batavia with 15 points, while Hatch added eight.
Ahead for the Lady Knights is a Friday, Jan. 11 matchup at Glenbard South, while hosting Batavia on Tuesday, Jan. 15.
01/11/2008
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