Girls Basketball: Caroline Madden, Geneva return to IHSA State Finals in grand fashion

SCHAUMBURG – In the end, Caroline Madden ultimately had one assignment.

With eight seconds remaining and an opportunity to ice a trip to the state tournament hanging in the balance, Madden, the Geneva junior defensive specialist, needed to convert two free throws while nursing a two-point lead against Barrington in the Class 4A Schaumburg Supersectional on Monday.

With the gym buzzing and anticipation seemingly on overload with the Vikings leading 49-47, Madden calmly sank both free throws.

Barrington then missed a 3-point attempt in the final seconds and Lauren Slagle’s rebound at the buzzer ensured Geneva’s 51-47 victory to secure the program’s third supersectional title in the past seven seasons.

The Vikings, at last, were state-bound.

The last times they reached the state finals was when they repeated as state champions in 2017 and 2018.

“That’s the moment she wants,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said of Madden. “She wants those.”

“I was thinking, ‘I need to make these. This could determine the game,’” Madden said amid the postgame celebration. “I just tried to lock in and not think about how loud the gym was. I put them in.”

Geneva (30-3) fell to Barrington – the Class 4A state runner-up last season – by four points on Dec. 3. This time, the Vikings had a different chapter to write in a storybook season seemingly destined for Normal since the beginning.

The Fillies on Monday were without star senior Sophie Swanson, who suffered a knee injury in their regional semifinal. Nonetheless, Gwen Adler, Molly O’Riordan and Co. pushed the Vikings to the brink. The teams were knotted at 34 entering the final quarter.

In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Slagle (11 points, three rebounds) corralled a Cassidy Arni miss for a crucial putback layup and made a free throw to set the tone for Geneva down the stretch.

“Huge,” Slagle said of the sequence. “Rebound was huge. [Adler] was killing us [on the boards]. She had 15 rebounds and we had, like, 13 as a team. We knew what we had to do. We knew that rebounding was going to be huge. The second putbacks, we knew we had to stop [O’Riordan] on the 3s. I think we [defended] her shot pretty well.”

With 1:25 remaining, Arni (seven points, three rebounds) hit a layup for a 47-43 Vikings lead. Barrington junior Adaobi Ibe missed a pair of free throws and Geneva called a timeout with 40 seconds remaining.

After Ibe was tagged for a reach-in foul, Madden hit two free throws to inch the lead to 49-43.

Maddie Ziebarth hit a jumper for the Fillies with 13.7 seconds left. Palmer was fouled with 11 seconds remaining and missed the front end of a 1-and-1, which allowed Adler to knife in for the rebound. Adler hit a pair of free throws to pull the Fillies to within 49-47.

Madden then hit the final two free throws, vaulting Geneva to another trip to the state finals.

“We moved Caroline over when we got in some foul trouble on [Adler]. I say this all the time, I know I’m beating a dead horse, but that kid just does so much for us,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “She just steps up and plays defense and takes their best kid away. I know she had 10 at halftime, but in the second quarter she only had [one field goal] when we made that adjustment.”

Palmer led the Vikings with 20 points and six rebounds. Madden had 11 points.

“It feels amazing,” Slagle said. “These are the types of moments that you’re wishing that you have with your whole team. The execution that we had, we just stuck together. We wanted this more.

“Last year, our season ended short [sectional semifinals]. We knew this is our year. We just had to execute, play together and we’re going to state.”

The Fillies (26-9) were paced by Molly O’Riordan’s 20 points and five rebounds. Adler had 15 points and 15 rebounds. Ziebarth had five points.

“I thought [Madden] played a really nice game for them,” Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro said. “She had some big [free throws] down the stretch.

‘I’m just completely proud of my kids. Losing Sophie, obviously, you’re losing a 23-point scorer a game and our leader. Our kids just locked in, engaged and did what needed to be done the rest of the playoffs. We really felt like we could win this game, and we could’ve. We had some chances, that’s the bottom line.

“It’s because we have super great leadership from Gwen Adler – how she plays – and Molly O’Riordan stepping up big. ... Geneva is a good team. Thats why they are in the place they are, but I’m just completely proud of our kids.”