PEORIA — The bracket set up for the game most fans wanted, Stevenson and Simeon with the Class 4A championship on the line.
Normal spoiled the tournament's best-laid plans with an upset of Simeon in the supersectionals on Tuesday night. The Ironmen now have an opportunity to stick it to Stevenson, as well.
They certainly broke Geneva's heart on Friday night, when Alex Peacock's putback with 2.8 seconds left lifted Normal over the Vikings' 38-36 in a gut-wrenching semifinal at Carver Arena.
Normal (33-1) will play Stevenson for the title on Saturday night.
"We have seen some film on them, but obviously we were focused on Geneva," Normal coach Dave Witzig said. "I think when the brackets came out people were picking Stevenson to be right where they're at. They've been waiting for this opportunity. It is a great challenge for us. It is 4A basketball, you play people like Jalen Brunson. We are looking forward to this opportunity.
Like it had all post-season, Geneva relied on its Navigato system — senior Nate Navigato — to keep it on track when the Vikings appeared to be at a loss.
Trailing 28-23 after three quarters, Geneva force-fed Navigato, who responded by shooting the Vikings into the lead.
The 6-foot-7 Buffalo recruit's game-high 19 points included a layup that tied it at 29 with 4 minutes, 48 seconds left and a 3-pointer that gave Geneva a 32-29 lead — its first lead of the second half.
Navigato, Geneva's all-time leader in scoring, assists, steals, blocked shots and 3-pointers made a runner in the lane with 10.5 seconds left to tie the score at 36, but Normal had an answer.
The Ironmen's top player, 6-7 senior Alex Peacock, sent the Ironmen into the final on a putback of a missed shot with 2.8 seconds left.
Geneva (30-4) could manage only a difficult fadeaway jumper at the buzzer.
The Vikings held Tyler Seibring, Normal's 6-foot-7 Elon recruit, to four points on 1-for-2 shooting.
"When I hit that I thought either we'd get a stop and win it there or get it into overtime and win," Navigato said. "We stoped the intitial drive, but it was a good follow up tip-in. It's just unfortunate."
Peacock was the best player on the floor in the first half, scoring 14 of Normal's 19 points. He had just two after halftime.
"If someone told me we'd hold them to 38 points and have just 11 turnovers, I'd think we'd probably win the game," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "I give them a tremendous amount of credit. They made it very difficult for us. I give Coach Witzig and his players full credit."
Player of the game: Nate Navigato, Geneva, 19 points, 7-12 FG, 4 rebounds.
Key performers: Normal — Alex Peacock, 16 points, 7-9 FG, 6 rebounds; Geneva — Pace Temple, 6 points, 5 rebounds
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