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Notre Dame pulls away from Libertyville

Libertyville's boys basketball team came up short in the title game of the 38th annual Wheeling Hardwood Classic on Saturday night.

The Wildcats, who were looking for their first Hardwood tournament championship since 2002, led by as many as 10 points early in the third quarter. But Notre Dame rallied to beat Libertyville 62-48.

“They are a real good team,” Libertyville coach Brent Mork said. “They came out with an intensity in the second half that we were not ready to match.”

Libertyville, which rallied Wednesday from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Naperville Central in the semifinals, continued that hard play Saturday, turning up the the pressure on the Dons in the first quarter. The Wildcats' solid man-to-man defense forced 8 turnovers and kept Notre Dame's significant size advantage away from the basket by doubling the wings when they got the ball.

Meanwhile, the offense was off and running. Led by Ben Kimpler and Jabari Quigley, the Wildcats pulled ahead 19-12 after the first quarter.

Notre Dame solved its turnover issue, but thanks to Libertyville's continued pressure on the defensive end, had difficulty converting shots. The Wildcats put together some offense on their end of the court and took a 31-22 lead into the break.

Libertyville extended its lead to 36-26 with 6:11 left in the third quarter on a putback by Kimpler. But that's when Notre Dame finally found its game.

“We came out the first half very aggressive,” said Kimpler, who was named to the all-tournament team and finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds. “We did everything we should have. We had lead going into halftime. They matched our intensity and added one more, and we couldn't catch up after that.”

The Dons ran off 15 unanswered points to take a 41-36 lead with 56 seconds left in the third. During that span, Notre Dame converted 5 shots in a row. They also forced 3 turnovers on the defensive end as Libertyville missed 6 shots.

But Notre Dame was not done.

After a basket by Libertyville's Paul Steinhaus made it 41-38 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter, Notre Dame ran off 11 straight points to put the game away as the Dons shot 68 percent (15-of-22) in the second half.

“We were our own worst enemy in the second half,” said Mork, whose team shot 27 percent (7-for-26) and turned the ball over 8 times in the second half.

“We just didn't finish possessions defensively in the second half. We didn't get the rebounds we needed. Offensively we had some turnovers in the third quarter.

“It just spiraled on us.”

Despite the loss, Mork was happy with his team's performance in the tournament.

“I thought we had a real nice tournament ,” Mork said. “We get to learn by playing four good teams here. We can take good things with us.”

Quigley had 11 points for Libertyville while Drew Peterson, who was also named to the all tournament team, had 10 points and Steinhaus had 8 points

Notre Dame (11-2), which won its third Hardwood title in the last six years, was led by Ammar Becar, who had 15 points and Chris Heinichan, who had 11.

  Libertyville's Ben Kimpler, front, gets fouled by Notre Dames' Anthony D'Avanzo under the basket during the final of the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic on Saturday. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville's Ben Kimpler hustles in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the ball inbounds against Notre Dame during the final of the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic on Saturday. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville's Drew Fortini, left, gets fouled by Notre Dame's Eddie Stritzel as he drives along the baseline to the basket during the final of the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic on Saturday. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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