Cary Drops Heartbreaker in Sectional Final

It had been a very long calendar year since Cary-Grove lost to Geneva in the Huntley Sectional semifinal with Thursday night’s rematch in the IHSA Class 4A Jacobs Sectional championship game an opportunity for the Trojans to even the score with the Vikings.

The two teams fought back and forth but in the end, two free-throws by Geneva’s Katelyn Allen with 3.6 seconds remaining gave Geneva a 55-53 victory and ended Cary’s chances of winning a sectional for the first time in 22 years.

Cary (27-4) ran into some early foul trouble as starter Paige Lincicum got her second foul just 3:02 into the contest, limiting the C-G’s defensive effort.

The first big run of the game came from Geneva as the Vikings ran off nine straight points late in the first quarter to take a 14-6 at that point and led 18-12 after one quarter. Geneva tacked on an 8-2 run early in the second quarter to take a ten-point advantage at 28-18 and held a 34-24 lead going into the half.

After Geneva scored the first two baskets of the second half to take a 14-point lead, Cary began to chip away at the big lead as the Trojans went on a 17-5 run that extended into the fourth quarter to make Geneva’s lead just two at 43-41.

In the waning minutes of the game, Cary embarked on a 6-0 run to take a 51-49 lead but Geneva quickly tied the game. Olivia Jakubicek gave Cary the lead with two free-throws with 47.3 seconds left to make it a 53-51 game.

However once again, Geneva’s Kat Yelle went down the lane and tied the game once more.

After a costly turnover that gave the ball back to Geneva and two fouls later, Allen got fouled herself and made both shots for the lead. Cary had one last chance but Johanna Geegan’s half-court heave came up empty. Claire Jakubicek scored 23 points in her final game in a Trojan uniform while sister Olivia added 13 for Cary. Claire Jakubicek said that even though the team lost, it was a great sendoff.

“I mean being down by 14 points and having our team work their butts off and coming back, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my senior season,” Jakubicek said. “Everybody worked so hard and we all wanted it, I just wish I could get a second chance at it but the girls next season will work even harder because of this game.”

Cary coach Rod Saffert said it was a simple plan inbounding the ball with ten seconds left and really couldn’t express how proud he was of his team.

“We wanted to get it in and go into stall, get the ball into your best ball-handler and let her create. Certainly, we would have taken overtime too,” Saffert said. “I’m an English teacher and I can’t think of the words to tell them how to say how proud I am of them. I had three of the great seniors I could have not to slight anyone who have come through here before. Claire and Megan (Straumann) took us to a whole new level that I don’t believe many FVC teams could get to so I‘m extremely proud of them.”

Straumann said that the sight of an entire section of Cary-Grove students cheering the team on is something she won’t forget and it drove the team on as the Trojans rallied back into the game.

“I have never seen a fan base like that for girls’ basketball since my freshman year so that was amazing,” Straumann said. “Seeing the all-white of Cary-Grove was amazing. I think they were our sixth man and I think that helped us with our run back. Even though they couldn’t be out there playing with us, I do think their momentum helped.”

On a more positive note for the night, both Jakubicek and Straumann advanced to the state three-point showdown this coming Thursday in Normal. Straumann made nine shots while Jakubicek had to go through two shoot-offs to advance.