Hungry for victory, Libertyville handles Alcott

Just a day after the Thanksgiving holiday, Libertyville's boys basketball team had to get rid of that leftover sensation.

No, not so much the one from all the feasting Thursday, but rather that lingering feeling following a loss to Maine South on Wednesday night.

Coach Scott Bogumil decided to get his boys into the gym Friday morning for a shootaround.

"Coming off Thanksgiving, it's always a little tough to get them going," Bogumil said. "(Maine South) was a tough game and we were a little down from that. We did shoot around for about an hour, to get the turkey out of them. I think it definitely helped and we got a sweat going."

It turned out that Laibertyville didn't break much of a sweat in a 77-36 victory over Alcott at the Maine West Tournament in Des Plaines on Friday afternoon.

Joe Borcia led the Wildcats with 15 points, 8 blocked shots and 9 rebounds, while Paul Steinhaus added 13 points and Conor Peterson chipped in with 11.

Libertyville (2-1) started out a bit sluggishly early, but then picked up its game in a hurry. The Wildcats had a good shooting day with 69 percent from the field through the first three quarters.

"We started out slow and we were able to get what we wanted," Bogumil said. "I'm happy with how they responded, and we contributions from a lot of guys. It was nice to see with a lot of run-outs, and we were able to execute."

Libertyville held a 13-10 lead over Alcott (0-4), but the Wildcats' Brandon Rule scored 4 of his 6 points to finish the quarter and extend the lead to 19-10.

One key was the pressure Libertyville applied to Alcott's guards.

"This tournament especially, we're trying to pressure the ball," said Steinhaus, who had a couple of steals. "That team (Alcott), we thought we could take advantage of their ball-handling. So we were able to put pressure on them."

In the second quarter, the Wildcats too command. Libertyville went on a 23-6 run and led 42-16 at the break. Borcia dropped in 11 of his 15 in that second quarter.

"This was a good rhythm game for us," said the 6-foot-10 Borcia. "But I don't expect the blocks. I do know I can jump higher than last year. When people go to the basket, I'll try to make the block, naturally.

"We just want to build off a game like this for our next game."

Libertyville led 69-27 after three quarters.

The Wildcats next meet Chicago King (2-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Maine West.