Libertyville spoils Stevenson's Senior Night, clinches NSC title
The Stevenson girls basketball team celebrated Senior Night with a lengthy and elaborate pregame ceremony on Wednesday night.
The Patriots' five seniors - Nikki Ware, Lydia Lueck, Carly King and Akiko Uchida, Madeline Rosenbaum - were all honored with roses, a picture display and balloons.
But two other seniors - Libertyville's Marianna Morrissey and Morgan Spaulding - managed to crash the party.
Spaulding started the unexpected surge, scoring 12 points in the first nine minutes and Morrissey added 10 second-quarter points to fuel the Wildcats to a 61-46 win in North Suburban Conference action.
The Wildcats (12-2, 7-0) notched their third straight conference championship and extended their winning streak to 9 in a row.
Libertyville star sophomore Emily Fisher had a dominating game, with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. Spaulding also had a night to remember with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and two 3-pointers. Morrissey scored 15 points and tallied 5 rebounds and Lauren Huber contributed 6 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals.
Still, it was the play of Spaulding and Morrissey that sparked the Wildcats.
"I was just so pumped for this game," Morrissey said. "We've been getting ready for this game for so long, watching film and we wanted to beat them since they beat us earlier this year. We wanted to come out and bring a lot of energy, especially since we were playing on their home floor.
"I hope that early run gave the team some energy and that kick to pull it out in the end. I don't feeling special crashing their party, but it's nice to win the conference championship. I wish we could've won it at home, but this was nice."
The Patriots (11-1, 6-1) fell from the unbeaten ranks due to a bad shooting night and sluggish transition defense. The Wildcats kept on leaking out players for fast breaks. Junior guard Simone Sawyer finished with 18 points and 8 boards and Ava Bardic had 9 points for the Pats.
"Libertyville hurt us with their dribble-drive offense and were able to finish at the rim, or kick it out," Stevenson coach Ashley Graham said. "They are super talented and Spaulding and Morrissey both had great games for them. To have that output is amazing."
The Wildcats established themselves from the outset, imposing their will on the younger Patriots with their aggressive defense. Libertyville scored the first 6 points and built a 9-1 lead. Morrissey, who does not plan to play in college, scored 12 of Libertyville's first 18 points to stake the visitors to an 18-11 lead.
"We were really ready for this game and came out ready to run and it showed and we built off that energy," Spaulding said. "We had a really good start. We moved the ball well. It's all about the strategy to drive and kick and knowing how they are playing their defense and adjust. We did that really well tonight."
Morrissey, a senior guard committed to Carthage College, picked up where Spaulding left off. She scored the Wildcats' final eight second-quarter points for a 33-22 lead. With the Patriots keying on Huber and Fisher and Spaulding hovering in the corner, Morrissey took advantage of an open lane.
The Patriots reeled off 10 straight points in the third quarter, but Fisher answered with 6 points in a 12-4 run to pad the lead to 51-38 early in the fourth. The Wildcats made their final 4 free throws to seal the road win.
"We feel we just beat one of the top five teams in the state," Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said. "They are so difficult to play against, so difficult to prepare for. The fact that we were able to come here and win this is a great to the kids to achieve this feat."