advertisement

Mansfield, Libertyville leg out a victory

The collision of knees, which caused Libertyville's Jake Mansfield to wince and hobble off Mundelein's basketball court, wasn't funny.

Never mind that the hit was to a "funny bone" area.

"I was going for a loose ball and the top of the (Mundelein) kid's knee hit the soft tissue of my knee - like the funny bone on your elbow," Mansfield said. "It stings when that happens."

Mansfield took a seat at the end of the bench, and with Libertyville comfortably ahead early in the third quarter, there was no need for his return.

Libertyville's starters could have some fun cheering on their backups, as the Wildcats cruised to an 86-52 win in North Suburban Lake Division boys basketball action Friday night.

Mansfield scored a game-high 16 points and added 4 steals. Joe Borcia added 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots for the Wildcats, while Paul Steinhaus (11 points) and Conor Peterson (10) also scored in double figures. All 11 Wildcats who played scored.

Mundelein (2-23, 0-10) was led by freshman Tommy Marcotte, who scored 13 points coming off the bench. For the Mustangs, who were coming off a competitive game against Zion-Benton and played Libertyville tough last month, this one stung.

"If you want to ask me what the difference between Tuesday night (98-89 loss to Z-B) and tonight was, I don't have an answer for you," coach Corey Knigge said. "The only answer I have is that we allow our offense to dictate how we play. If we're scoring, like we were Tuesday night, then we're fine. If we're not, we don't play with any energy and we get down."

Mundelein jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Libertyville (11-10, 4-6) thanks to a layup by Isaiah Woolford (9 points, 6 rebounds) and 3-pointer by Tyler Olson (6 points). But then the Mustangs stopped scoring.

The 6-foot-10 Borcia took over inside, as the Wildcats manufactured a 21-2 run. The visitors were up 28-9 at the end of the first quarter and went into halftime leading 50-25.

When the two teams played each other on Jan. 9, Libertyville won 68-51 but led by only four points late in the first half.

The Wildcats were not about to let a repeat of that opening half happen.

"The last time we played them, we figured that we could just walk into the gym and it would be ours," Mansfield said. "They came out playing a lot harder than we did. We were shocked that they came out and did what they did. Coming into this game, our mindset was, win or lose, go out and play as hard as you can."

Assistant coach Rick Kolze ran the Wildcats in place of head coach Scott Bogumil, who served an IHSA-mandated one-game suspension after picking up two technical fouls against Lake Zurich last Saturday.

"I thought we had a good size advantage on (Mundelein)," said Kolze, who graduated from Fremd in 2005 and is a cousin of former Lake Zurich star Mike Kolze. "I don't think the first time we played them was great. Tonight was a lot better than that. I'm just happy with how hard we played. They came out and they were ready to play."

Libertyville was coming off consecutive losses to the NSC's power trio of Stevenson, Lake Forest and Lake Zurich.

"The instructions were just to come here and play with enthusiasm - play hard, have some energy and get back to what we do," Kolze said. "I told them those (last three) games were in the past."

Bogumil will rejoin his team today, as the Wildcats play Jacobs at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

"We're going to be happy to have him back," Kolze said. "That'll be (a) fun (game)."

Images: Mundelein vs. Libertyville, boys basketball

  Libertyville's Joe Borcia drives past Mundelein's Tyler Olson and Kevin Marcotte in North Suburban Lake play Friday in Mundelein. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville's Ben Kimpler battles Mundelein's Isaiah Woolford for a rebound in North Suburban Lake play Friday in Mundelein. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.