Leahy's Free Throws Help Geneva Hold Off Downers Grove North

It's the kind of situation you play over and over in the back yard when you're a kid. Here's Brendan Leahy, his toe at the line. The crowd is hushed. Two dribbles. Deep breath. This free throw wins the game ...

"Just like in the driveway shooting with my dad," Leahy said. "Step up and knock them down."

He did.

With 14 seconds left and the Vikings leading 56-55 after a furious Downers Grove North comeback, Leahy made two free throws to give Geneva a three-point lead. Then, with 7 seconds left, Leahy rimmed out the first but made the second to give Geneva a 59-55 win in the historic Mack Olson gym.

"I wasn't thinking about the score at all. I was just thinking, make one and seal the deal," Leahy said.

At the half, the Vikings led 32-22 on the strength of Dan Trimble's nine first-half points and six rebounds. Trimble finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.

The turning point in the second quarter might have come when Trimble rebounded on one end, went the length of the floor for a short jumper, then blocked a shot by 6-4 Trojan center Tyler Mason, sparking a six-point run.

"In the first half, we gave them 14 free throws," Trojans Coach Jim Thomas said. "We just didn't play sound enough defense in the first half. But our kids did a great job coming back form a 10-point deficit by just grinding away offensively and defensively.

"I commend my kids for continually playing through all that adversity. They (the Vikings) are a good team, they throw a lot of different junk defenses at you. You never know what you're going to get offensively. You can draw anything up and they come back with two different defenses, it seems like."

Geneva coach Phil Ralston gave Downers Grove North credit for battling back.

"They've had a very tough schedule, so we know that they've been battle-ready," he said. "The other thing we notice about this team is that they have the ability to come back when they've been down. And they did. Every time it seemed we were able to strech that lead close to double digits, they came right back at us.

"I told the kids in the locker room that it didn't really go the way we wanted to close it out, but the fact that they were resilient enough to close it out was a good sign."

Trimble fouled out in the final minute, leaving the heroics to Leahy and his teammates.

"We knew we needed him but we didn't have him, so we had to find a way to win," Leahy said. "And we found a way."

SCORING

Geneva Vikings (59)

• Phil Lorenz—7
• Dan Hince—9
• Dan Trimble—20
• Brad Bernhard—4
• Brendan Leahy—15
• Ben Rogers—4

Downers Grove North Trojans (55)

• Ross Johnson—14
• Tyler Mason—7
• Tom Wengren—15
• Rob Mahke—13
• Ross Johnson—2
• Jalen Grace—2