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Libertyville finishes strong against Warren

The final quarter of regulation has been rather unkind to the Libertyville boys basketball team so far this season - and even tougher in conference play.

Four times this season, the Wildcats have been tied or had the lead in the final quarter only to suffer defeat.

On Tuesday night against Warren, Libertyville was in that same position again, leading by 3 only to see the Blue Devils catch them and pass them with 3:39 to play.

This time, though, Libertyville flipped the script.

Instead of panicking or staring at the scoreboard, the Wildcats looked like a team that knew just what to do. Libertyville made its free throws in the final three minutes and held off the feisty Devils snapping Warren's 6-game winning streak 57-53 in a North Suburban Lake Division contest.

"It helps to make free throws, no doubt about that," said Libertyville coach Brent Mork. "Guys did a really nice job focusing and executing down the stretch. It wasn't just the free throws. We made good decisions with the ball down the stretch and that made a huge difference."

Libertyville (13-9, 4-5) built its lead, which was as big as 10 on several occasions, by the silky smooth shooting of sophomore Drew Peterson. He scored 10 of his game-best 20 points in the first quarter to help the Wildcats gain their advantage.

"(Drew) is really good and does a real nice job for us," Mork said. "At 6-5 he is able to get shots off in different positions that guys his size aren't able to do."

The Wildcats needed Peterson and a 16-point performance from senior Ben Kimpler to offset the performance of Warren junior Jayson Dorsey. He led Warren with 18 points and hit his only 3-pointer of the game to tie things up at 45-45 with 3:30 left.

One play later, one of Dorsey's 4 steals helped lead to two a pair of free throws from Juwan Perry (11 points), giving Warren (10-12, 5-4) its first lead of the night 47-45 with 3:32 to play.

"(Jayson) is an explosive, athletic kid that is strong," Warren coach Jon Jasnoch said. "He had a big sequence there for us to get the lead when he made a smart play to shoot the 3, then turned around and got the steal."

The teams traded leads eight more times the rest of the quarter before 2 free throws from Paul Steinhaus (7 points) gave the Wildcats the lead for good 54-53 with 44.7 left to go.

"I felt like we played really good defense throughout the game tonight," Dorsey said. "We made some mistakes down the stretch - some fouls and missed free throws that cost us. We are a young team and we will bounce back from this."

Declan O'Connor was the only other Warren player in double figures. The junior big man scored 10 points and pulled down 9 boards.

  Libertyvile's Ben Kimpler, left, drives on Warren's Declan O'Connor on Tuesday night in Gurnee. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Warren's Jayson Dorsey drives in for an uncontested layup against Libertyville on Tuesday night in Gurnee. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Warren's Corey Ball, right, drives past Libertyvile's Drew Peterson on Tuesday night in Gurnee. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Libertyvile's Drew Fortini, left, and Warren's Josh Pelland battle for a rebound Tuesday night in Gurnee. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Warren's Jayson Dorsey, left, pulls down a rebound over Libertyvile's Ben Kimpler on Tuesday night in Gurnee. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Warren's Declan O'Connor, left, pulls down a rebound over Libertyvile's Brandon Rule on Tuesday night in Gurnee. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
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