Girls Basketball: Palmer, Geneva clamp down on Batavia 53-38 in Class 4A sectional final

GLEN ELLYN – Amid the fracas of celebratory photos and clutching a sectional title plaque, a handful of Geneva’s basketball players found a moment to sing in unison to words that encapsulates the effort and grit they’ve embraced from the beginning this season.

‘We’ll keep on fighting to the end’ – a nod to Queen’s ‘We are the Champions’ – that was blaring all around them.

Geneva, who ran through the DuKane Conference in undefeated fashion, has perhaps another date with destiny following their 53-38 victory over Batavia in the Class 4A Glenbard West Sectional final on Thursday.

It’s Geneva’s first sectional title since 2018, the year the Vikings went on to win their second straight state championship.

“They’re in a different phase right now,” Vikings coach Sarah Meadows said. “That’s them. I mean, we talk about a lot of things, but they’re doing a nice job of being focused on the moment. Not looking any ahead and they’re just in it.”

The Vikings quickly built a 9-0 run to open the game, and despite Batavia clawing back in spurts, Geneva seemingly always had an answer.

Vikings defensive specialist and point guard Caroline Madden put the clamps down on Batavia star Brooke Carlson for the majority of three quarters. The usually potent Carlson was limited to six of her 17 points through the first 24 minutes.

Geneva forwards Leah Palmer and Lauren Slagle, plus guard Rilee Hasegawa, handled the rest to build a 30-17 halftime lead and a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter. That was all with standout forward Cassidy Arni, held to just five points, sitting for the majority of the second quarter and stretches of the second half with mounting foul trouble.

The Vikings (29-3) also didn’t need any reminders of their sectional semifinal loss a season ago. They were determined for no repeat performances in that regard.

“We’re just ultra-focused this time of year,” said Palmer, who had 18 points and six rebounds. “We know what happened last year. We want the outcome to be a little different this time. We went out there and we went and got it. We’re also very experienced as well.

“Watching the [two-time state title team] when I was in middle school and my older sister [Kate] play, I knew I wanted to accomplish something like this.”

The Vikings defeated Batavia for a third time this season, and now await Barrington in the Schaumburg-hosted supersectional on Monday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

“...We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Meadows said. “Our kids, we talked about it yesterday: We needed toughness and we needed to play together. Our kids followed through on both of those.”

Slagle added 12 points and six rebounds, while Madden had eight points for Geneva. Hasegawa had seven points and six rebounds.

“The margin for error against them is always very, very small,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. “They’re really good. The pressure they turn on [defensively] is really good and it makes you want to do things a little bit faster than you should. It makes you just do more than you have to. That’s when you get a little trouble.”

Kylee Gehrt and Addie Lowe scored five points apiece for Batavia (21-12). Despite managing foul trouble, Addie Prewitt competed for five points and five rebounds.

Bulldogs senior forward Ava Thomas finished her high school career with two free throws with under a minute left to close the game.

“I knew it was my last bit, so I kind of did what I could,” Thomas said. “I knocked down two free throws, which was exciting. But, I cherished it. [The season] meant a lot to me. I grew a lot [as a player] over the season. It felt very special to me just to be playing at the level I was playing and getting varsity minutes, especially because I didn’t play very much last year.”