Libertyville finds the range, shoots past Mundelein

One element missing from Libertyville's boys basketball team in recent games has been simply making shots - a big reason behind their three-game slide.

But the Wildcats found a way to turn that aspect of the game in their favor on Tuesday night by shooting nearly 50 percent for the first three quarters.

That kind of accuracy helped Libertyville pick up a 74-31 victory over visiting Mundelein in North Suburban Conference play Tuesday.

Drew Peterson led the Wildcats (11-14, 6-6) with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Harrison Bach had 12 points, Ryan Wittenbrink dropped in 11 with three 3s off the bench and Brandon Rule had 10.

Wittenbrink had a good shooting touch, dropping in a 15-foot jumper to beat the buzzer before halftime.

"It a little different for me, but I gave it my all when I'm out there," said Wittenbrink, who normally starts but saw senior Steven Donovan get the nod in this one. "We're pretty much a jump-shooting team and don't have too much size. It's just important that we hit our shots."

Mundelein (4-23, 0-12) got off to a good start and led 3-1 with 6:50 left in the opening quarter after James Williams (team-high 12 points) made 3 consecutive free throws.

Then Libertyville found its shooting with a 14-2 run, and the Wildcats held a 15-5 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

The shots kept falling in the second quarter as Libertyville went 11-for-18 from the field. Bach had 8 points, Peterson 7 and Wittenbrink dropped in 5 . Libertyvile outscored Mundelein 30-7 and led 45-12 at the break.

"The guys are doing what we ask them to do and they're working hard," Libertyville coach Brent Mork said. "With the teams we've been playing, there hasn't been that much margin for error. We haven't been shooting the ball well. We did shoot the ball well here tonight. We do need to shoot the ball well to have success. The guys stepped up and executed on the offensive and defensive end, doing a great job."

Mundelein's Corey Novander had 10 points and Joey Bikus pulled down 14 rebounds with 5 blocked shots.