Girls Basketball: Naperville North upsets Geneva

Updated: December 22, 2011 9:50PM

Naperville North has been searching for a signature victory for a long time.

The Huskies got one Thursday night by upsetting No. 9 Geneva 62-56 in the semifinals of the Benet/Naperville North Holiday Tournament in Lisle.

Kayla Sharples had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Shannon Bushman scored 15 points to lead Naperville North (9-5), which won its sixth straight game to advance to Friday’s championship game against Benet.

“We had heard some talking that we had the easier pool and we just wanted to show that we can play with teams like Geneva,” Bushman said. “We have come a long way since the beginning of the season so it was just a big win for us.”

Bushman, a 5-6 senior guard, had a big hand in the win, which denied the Vikings (11-2) a fourth straight tournament title. Geneva had gone on a 13-0 run to close within 47-46 on a drive by Ashley Santos with 6:46 left in the fourth quarter, but Bushman responded by draining three consecutive three-pointers, including a 22-foot rainmaker from the top of the key, to boost the lead to 56-46.

“We knew they were going to go on a run at some point,” Bushman said. “We were waiting for it. As our coach said, we had to weather the storm and we had to respond like nothing was wrong and keep playing our game.

“I think the girls did a great job of creating some shots for me and I just felt it and they went in.”

Geneva fought back within 57-54 on a Santos basket with 1:21 to go, but Bushman sank two free throws with 1:01 left and, following a Geneva miss, Sharples scored on a layup to ice it.

“We have this run going and then we give up nine points,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “We gave up three [treys] in a row. We can’t do that. It’s huge. It’s disappointing.”

Naperville North used its transition game to open up a 35-24 halftime lead. Back-to-back threes by reserve Kathleen Hahne increased that cushion to 47-33 late in the third quarter.

Rachel Hinchman scored nine of her career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter for the Vikings, but it wasn’t enough.

“We got in some little ruts and then once we started pushing the ball up the floor we did well,” said Hinchman, who made 9 of 13 shots to go with three assists and three steals. “Then when we [got back in it] we let down again.”

Hahne finished with 11 points, as did Zoe Swift, who added six rebounds and five assists for the Huskies. Santos had 14 points, seven boards and five steals and Sami Pawlak added 10 points and nine rebounds for Geneva, which will face DeKalb in the third-place game.

“We’re trying to preach to our kids that every team wants to be them,” Meadows said. “That’s a credit to them, that they’re a good program. I don’t think they’ve grasped that yet. Until they do, they are going to play first halves like we did tonight.”

Bushman hopes the Huskies will have more performances like this.

“It’s a great win,” Bushman said. “We’ve been playing them for three years now and we haven’t even come close to beating them. This year we did a great job of playing together as a team.”

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