Girls basketball: Leah Palmer’s double-double of 31 and 12 carries Geneva past Lake Park

GENEVA – Issues with the clock caused a number of stoppages in Geneva’s game Tuesday night.

That was about the only thing not working smoothly for the Vikings, who got 31 points and 12 rebounds from Leah Palmer in a 53-28 win against Lake Park.

Geneva led 16-5 after one quarter, with Palmer scoring 11. The Lancers hung tough in the second quarter, getting within 23-15 at one point and trailing just 29-17 at halftime, but the Vikings opened the second half with an 11-1 run and never looked back.

Palmer hit a pair of 3-pointers and went 11 for 11 from the foul line for Geneva (5-3). Caroline Madden added 10 points and six boards for the Vikings.

Allison Gogola scored 10 points, and Margaret Frank added eight for the Lancers, but they couldn’t keep up with the Vikings.

“We really wanted to come out and win this game,” said Geneva coach Sarah Meadows. “We felt like it was a big game for us. We knew they were going to play us physical, and we didn’t play physical over the weekend, so we needed it.”

Palmer ensured that they got off to a fast start, scoring the Vikings’ first six points before assisting on Madden’s 3-pointer. Palmer added a 3-pointer of her own to close the first-period scoring.

“I had a couple of fouls going up and a couple of free throws, and that kind of got me going,” said Palmer. “After I had that first 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter, I started feeling better about it.”

Led by Palmer and Madden, the Vikings outrebounded the visitors from Roselle 30-11.

Geneva really broke the game open in the first few minutes of the second half. Madden started the run with a basket, and Palmer completed an old-fashioned three-point play.

After a free throw by Lake Park’s Alexandra Kiefer, Palmer made two free throws, came up with a steal and a layup and added two more foul shots.

Gogola scored for Lake Park, but the host team answered with a 3-pointer by Lucie Garnier, followed quickly by a steal and layup by Madden.

https://basketball.dailyherald.com/sports/20231205/palmers-31-leads-geneva-past-lake-park/