Libertyville's big start too much for King

Libertyville's boys basketball team cruised to a 20-4 first-quarter lead, but Chicago King made it a game by outscoring their opponents 14-11 in the second quarter.

The Wildcats still led 31-18 at halftime and hung on to win 57-49 in the final round of Maine West's Thanksgiving tournament in Des Plaines on Saturday. Maine South topped Maine West on Saturday to finish 4-0 and win the tournament.

"I thought in the first quarter, defensively we were excellent," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil, whose Wildcats improved to 3-1. "We really shut down their penetration."

Libertyville's Conor Peterson and Paul Steinhaus tied for game-high scoring honors with 14 points. Peterson sank 4 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and converted 3 of 4 foul shots.

"Conor did a great job," Bogumil said. "He had a great tournament and was shooting the ball well.

Peterson hurt his back on the last play of the game by taking a charge and said he also hurt his thigh.

"I felt we really had a great tournament," Peterson said. "I got a little bruised up, but I will be ready for the next game."

Steinhaus (7 of 10 free throws) opened the second quarter by converting 1 of 2 free throws to give the Wildcats a 21-4 lead. After the Jaguars' Jabari Antwahn (7 points) and Peterson traded 3s, King had a 6-2 scoring spurt and later in the second quarter came up with 5 unanswered points.

But the cushion Libertyville earned in the first quarter was just too large, and King was never able to fully recover. Justin Davis led the Jaguars with 11 points and Jesse Young added 8.

For Libertyville, Joe Borcia finished with 10 points and Peter Feely had 8.

King finished the tournament at 2-2.

"I was happy with the way our guys fought hard in the second half," King coach Culumber Ball said. "We came out of the first half like the game was too hard for us. We were complaining about the calls here and there, and I told my team that we don't need the calls because we're not playing well either."