Libertyville shares the shots, drops Warren

Drew Peterson has been a leader for Libertyville's boys basketball team for several seasons, as an elite scorer.

The 6-foot-8 senior's shooting ability doesn't come as a surprise to anyone by now, but when he's also able to distribute the ball to his teammates, the Wildcats take their collective game to another level.

Peterson was his usual productive self with 19 points and 5 rebounds against visiting Warren on Saturday, but his playmaking flair was the key as Libertyville shot 67 percent from the field in a 62-43 victory in North Suburban Conference play.

"When teams try to focus on me too much and pack it in, especially in the middle, I just try to distribute," said Peterson in reference to Warren's strategy in the second quarter. "I think we had four or five guys with 7 points.

"We were just trying to get the ball to everybody. We knew if we could do that, then we could get inside and hit other guys. We could hit the open 3s and get the win."

Sharing the shots keeps the Wildcats (14-7 overall) tied for first place in the NSC with Stevenson at 7-2. Warren (13-11) dropped to 5-4 in league play.

"I really thought the game would come down to the wire," Peterson said. "We just came out and everything worked out for us."

Libertyville dropped in 11 three-pointers in the game. Chase Eyre had 12 points and Josh Steinhaus chipped in with 8 as they combined for 5 treys, and Peterson had one 3.

"It's something that I've expected all season," Libertyville coach Brian Zyrkowski said. "All of guys are capable of knocking down shots and being patient at the rim.

"Drew does a great job of finding our guys. We run the offense through him, but when people try to take him away, the other guys step up. They all had great games. There's something about this group, when they starting hitting their shots."

In the second quarter, Libertyville made five 3s and outscored Warren 18-9 for a 32-18 lead at the break.

"I knew that (Libertyville) was a good shooting team and it wasn't unexpected, but I thought we would defend them better than that, and I thought we would score more," Warren coach Jon Jasnoch said. "The second quarter we didn't score and we couldn't keep pace with their scoring. (Libertyville) shot the ball very well. It's tough to beat a team like that. We just need to play better defense. They got some other shooters there that certainly did a good job. They scattered the scoring around.

"We didn't knock down our shots when we had the open looks."

Libertyville extended its lead in the third quarter as they continued scoring and held a 50-24 advantage going into the final quarter.

Branden Ellis led the Blue Devils with 24 points.