Lipp, Varner connect for Libertyville
Matthew Varner was a big part of an effective one-two punch for Libertyville’s bosy basketball team Wednesday night.
Varner combined with Jack Lipp for 50 points as the Wildcats shot past North Shore County Day 73-58 at Maine South in Park Ridge as part of the Maine West Thanksgiving Tournament.
Lipp had a game-high 26 points and 9 rebounds, while Varner tossed in 24 points with 4 rebounds. Jack Deichl contributed 9 points and 9 boards.
“I’m always the player that likes to work hard and I was trying to make plays,” Varner said. “We do have a young team, and I wanted to help with the plays, and to score.
“Lipp and I work hard together and he’s a real good shooter. I was trying to get into the lane and find him and others to score. I believe we came together as a team.”
Libertyville (1-1) won its first game of the season after losing 42-40 to Maine South on Monday night.
The Wildcats came out shooting very well on Wednesday and finished up with 57 percent (24-for-42).
“We got a lot of transition buckets and we were hitting 3s early,” Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. “I was really pleased to see us work offensively.”
Libertyville held a 19-14 advantage through the opening quarter.
North Shore Country Day cut the lead down to 19-17 on Elias Butler’s 3-pointer with 7:25 left in the second quarter.
Then the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run, with Lipp (5 points) and Varner (4 points) combining for 9 of them as Libertyville led 32-17 with 3:52 remaining. North Shore trimmed the margin to 8 when Jamie Swimmer sank a half-court shot at the buzzer as Libertyville led 35-27 at the half.
The Wildcats never let up in the second half with a 50-39 lead going into the fourth quarter and controlled the double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
“(Libertyville) got layups early on us,” North Shore Country Day coach Rashid Smith said. “We played zone, (Libertyville) got layups. We played man, (Libertyville) got lay ups.
“It wasn’t what we did defensively. They got a lot of dribble-drives to the basket.”
The Wildcats next play Perspectives at Maine West at 5:30 p.m. Friday.