Girls basketball: Leah Palmer goes for 27, but Geneva succumbs to Alton’s pressure late in Morton quarterfinal

CICERO – Heading into unchartered territory for a rare northern Illinois holiday tournament, Alton had its eyes set on a big prize on Thursday night.

Coming off the best season in program history, the Redbirds gained a major victory by knocking off defending Class 4A state champion O’Fallon on Dec. 7.

Alton put its sights at another powerhouse program in the quarterfinals of the 3rd Annual Morton College Girls Basketball Christmas Tournament – Geneva.

The Vikings, who won back-to-back Class 4A state championship in 2017 and 2018 and placed third last season, were next in line for the Redbirds.

After a sluggish start, the Redbirds dialed up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter to pull out a 57-43 victory over the Vikings. Geneva senior forward Leah Palmer carried her team through a tough night shooting, scoring 19 first-half points to finish with a game-high 27 points. Kiyoko Proctor and Jarius Powers both scored 16 points for the Redbirds (13-0).

“It was a physical game and I think that’s what got to us,” Palmer said. “We hung with them for three quarters, but the physicality got little too much for us. It was a good learning experience for us. We can learn how to handle pressure better, especially in the fourth quarter.”

The Vikings, who won the Morton tourney last season, drop into the consolation bracket following Thursday’s defeat. The Redbirds also beat the Vikings 56-36 in a summer league game in June.

“We prepared and were very excited for this game,” said Alton coach Deserea Howard, a Homewood-Flossmoor graduate. “We started off rough, so I was glad to see us come out and face adversity and execute. This is big. We’ve had our way in games, so I wanted to see how we would do in adversity. We had stretches where we were up and down. Palmer got too hot but everybody started to slide in and help.”

The battle between two teams from opposite regions of the state was a back-and-forth game with numerous lead changes and ties. Palmer scored six points in the first five-plus minutes of the third quarter to give the Vikings a 39-37 lead. At that point, Palmer had accounted for 25 of her team’s 39 points.

“I just wanted to bring my best game because we played them in the summer league, and I wanted to go out there and show them what we’re made of,” Palmer said.

But the Redbirds locked down on the defensive end, holding Geneva scoreless for an eight-minute stretch until Palmer knocked down a pair of free throws with 8.9 seconds left in regulation.

“We struggled in the fourth quarter, for sure,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “This is exactly why we play in this tournament. We hung with Alton for three quarters. We don’t want to be playing our best basketball right now. We played tough. I loved our effort. It was about executing some plays down the stretch.”