Borcia, Mansfield come up big for Libertyville
Joe Borcia is taking a wait-and-see approach to where he will play college basketball next season.
But after the play of the Libertyville 6-foot-10 senior on Monday in the opening round of the 37th annual Wheeling Hardwood Classic on Monday, there may be colleges lining up.
Borcia was spectacular in his play, scoring 20 points with 13 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 assists to help the Wildcats win the battle of Milwaukee Avenue over district rival Vernon Hills 67-46.
"I am not going to make a decision until the end of the year," said Borcia, who has offers from lower-level DI programs Western Carolina and Virginia Military thus far.
"This is just a building block. Hopefully we can build off of this individually and as a team."
Borcia and Libertyville (5-4) made a statement early and certainly built on it.
Vernon Hills went inside on the first three possessions by the Cougars and each time Libertyville came up with a blocked shot, with Borcia knocking away two of them.
"They couldn't get as deep as they wanted to," Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "Our length really bothered them."
While the Wildcats were dominating defensively, they scored the game's first 7 points on their way to an 11-2 lead.
Libertyville used that momentum to limit Vernon Hills to just 17 percent (3-of-18) from the field in the first quarter, out rebounding the Cougars 13-5 in the period as the Wildcats built an 18-6 lead.
"They are a penetrating-and-kick team," said Bogumil, whose team had a 36-24 rebounding edge. "So I thought with our length, we were able to stop the penetration and they weren't able to get the shots they liked to get."
Libertyville extended its lead to 21-6 early in the second quarter when Vernon Hills (8-1) began to find its offense, thanks to changing to a man-to-man defense that forced 7 turnovers in the second quarter.
Led by Robby Nardini (11 points), Bo Manso (9 points) and Matt Weaver (8 points), the Cougars scored the next 8 points. The Cougars were able to make it an 11-2 run to close to 23-17 on a rebound basket by Lem Turner with 4:02 left in the half.
But Libertyville regrouped. Led by reserve guard Cameron Chen and Borcia, the Wildcats scored 6 unanswered points and closed out the half with a 12-5 run to lead 35-22 at the half.
Libertyville was able to put the game away in the third quarter. Leading 39-28, the Wildcats were spurred by Jake Mansfield, scoring 10 consecutive points to lead 49-28 with 3:13 left in the third quarter.
Mansfield, who scored a career-high 20 points, including a pair of 3s, relished the opportunity to play his district rivals.
"I just went with the flow of the offense," Mansfield said. "Being in the same district, we know all them from fairs and stuff. We all get a little more amped to play them.
"I really get amped up when I get a chance to guard a player like Rob Nardini. When I get play a guy like him, it puts more pressure on me and that's what I like."
Conor Peterson had 11 points and 7 rebounds and Ben Kimpler chipped in 5 points for the Wildcats, who will meet Lake Park in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m.
Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty, whose team will play Maine West in a consolation bracket game at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, thought Libertyville's size bothered his team.
"Their size really gave us trouble," McCarty said. "We didn't shoot well and I think their length presented some problems in the perimeter and the post."