Geneva 56, Glenbard South 46

Confronted by a team that was dominating inside and bedeviled by a half-long deficit, the Geneva girls basketball team decided to play its biggest cards.

Those cards came up trumps for the Vikings, who turned in a solid second-half performance and defeated host Glenbard South 56-46 in Western Sun Conference play.

In reaching maximum height, 5-foot-11 Lauren Wicinski and 6-0 Kelsey Augustine -- both sophomores -- went to play under the basket.

"It helped a lot," Wicinski said. "But it helps to have Olivia (Laster) and Nicole (Gregory) around too. All the posts help."

Wicinski had the greatest statistical impact with her 17 points and 12 rebounds. But Augustine helped clog passing lanes and finished with 6 rebounds herself.

"We held them," Wicinski said. "We moved it around a lot and everyone got open. It helped that we moved the ball really well. It just happened I was open."

Geneva (15-5, 9-1) threw the switch late in the third quarter, when a 10-2 run moved them into a 38-35 lead.

"There was a moment in the third quarter where our emotions got the better of us," Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda said. "You could see it in their eyes. When you're challenged is the time to step up, not step backwards."

The third quarter started taut, but the Vikings slowly built a 46-42 lead, then rattled off 10 straight points.

One of the signature sights in the rally was Geneva junior Emily Hinchman diving to the floor. Hinchman suffered a broken nose in December and still wears a protective mask.

Hinchman said the mask has taken some time to get used to.

"I can't look down and dribble and I can't breathe very well in it either," she said. "It's a struggle to play with. But I wear it in practice, so I've gotten used to it."

So there weren't any worries about putting her nose down on the wood?

"It's pretty good protection," Hinchman said. "I'm three weeks after my surgery, so it's healing it's really well."

Hinchman scored 6 of her 10 points in that critical fourth quarter and gave the mask an assist in her performance.

"It motivates me to play really well because I know it's not the most flattering thing to wear on the court," Hinchman said.

Taylor Whitley scored 13 points for the Vikings. She hit all 4 of her free throws in the fourth quarter, something the entire team excelled with. In those final eight minutes Geneva was 10 of 10 on free throws.

Glenbard South (14-7, 6-4) watched things unravel but was still in the game until the final two minutes.

"The first half, I was incredibly pleased with how we came out," Fonda said. "I just with that we had played that intense and that poised and that competitive for 32 minutes instead of 16."

Nikki Simpson and Danielle Pipal scored 12 points apiece to lead Glenbard South.