Girls basketball: St. Charles North ends Geneva’s long DuKane winning streak

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles North senior guard Reagan Sipla sensed something was different in the early stages of the Jan. 9 home game against Geneva.

Maybe it was the Vikings, who entered the contest with a 34-game DuKane Conference winning streak, committing a flurry of turnovers in the opening minutes.

Or the North Stars scoring the first five points of the game.

“I think we felt it at the beginning of the game,” Sipla said. “We knew if we did what we were supposed to do, we would take care of [them]. We just had to be disciplined.”

Sipla, a four-year varsity player, had a long history of losses to the powerhouse Vikings. She experienced two victories over the Vikings in her freshman season before hitting a run of losses. Sipla, a Quinnipiac recruit, called last season’s eight-point home loss to the Vikings the most painful one in the series.

“Last year at home was tough,” Sipla said. “It was a close game the whole time, just really good competition between both teams. It was back and forth with a lot of great players and just came down to the end of the game.”

Sipla and her teammates made a point to avoid a similar fate Jan. 9.

The North Stars ended their losing streak to the Vikings by playing tough defense and hitting timely shots on the way to a 34-27 victory in St. Charles.

With the win, the North Stars (16-2, 6-1) moved into a first-place tie with the Vikings (12-6, 6-1) while also putting an end to Geneva’s impressive streak of conference wins.

Sipla paced the North Stars with nine points, senior guard Mia Hoppes had six points and senior point guard Laney Stark finished with five points. St. Charles North forced 25 turnovers, but committed 22 turnovers in a sloppily played game by both teams. But the St. Charles North seniors – and the rest of the team – weren’t worried about style points and celebrated the win over the 2023 Class 4A state third-place Vikings with a festive postgame locker room.

“It feels great. The [seniors] had done it before, so doing it again in our senior year was nice for the seniors and the underclassmen,” Sipla said. “This will set an example for them. Our defense definitely brought it today and we forced them into 25 turnovers. That really helped get our offense going.”

Stark helped push the pace, especially after Geneva turnovers. She sparked the North Stars with a steal and a fast-break layup for a 30-22 lead with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter. The Vikings cut the deficit to four points late in the third, but St. Charles North turned up the pressure to force four turnovers in Geneva’s first five fourth-quarter possessions.

“We got downhill and found open people,” Stark said. “This win feels good. This gives us confidence that when we put our minds to it we can really beat anybody.”

The Vikings were unable to find any flow on offense, mainly because of a deluge of turnovers and missed shots. Senior Leah Palmer scored 12 points to lead the Vikings, who were held under 10 points in each of the four quarters.

The Vikings posted back-to-back 14-0 records in the conference, plus won their first six games in league play this season until the North Stars unlocked the code to beat them on a cold and snowy night.

“We didn’t play well enough to win that game,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “We didn’t handle their press, but I think this also could be good for us.”