Wilterdink delivers as Libertyville stops Carmel

Neither pain nor snow was going to stop Brian Wilterdink from delivering.

After all, Libertyville's boys basketball team entered Tuesday night's nonconference game at Carmel Catholic winless on the season. The Corsairs, meanwhile, won the Grant tournament championship.

So when the season's first snowstorm canceled school on Monday, Libertyville's team captains called for a voluntary practice. With the high school closed, they got together at the Libertyville Sports Complex, shot around and ran drills.

It paid off against Carmel. Wilterdink scored a career- and game-high 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, as Libertyville led from start to finish in a 57-46 victory.

"Credit our guys," said coach Brian Zyrkowski, whose Wildcats went 0-4 at St. Viator's tournament against tough competition. "Coming into tonight, they were fired up to get our first win. We didn't shoot very well all Thanksgiving tournament, and tonight we started to put the ball in the hoop a little bit from the arc (five 3-pointers) and inside. We knew it was just a matter of time."

Before the game, it appeared Wilterdink experienced bad timing. During the shootaround at Libertyville, the senior guard/forward rolled his left ankle.

"He went down in pain," Zyrkowski said. "But he said, 'Coach, there's no way in heck I'm sitting out this game.' "

Wilterdink responded with a 9-of-17 performance from the floor, scoring mainly in the lane. After Carmel (3-2) pulled within 43-41 midway through the fourth quarter, Wilterdink stole the ball in the Carmel frontcourt, sped the other way and completed a three-point play.

A 3-pointer by Kylen Beals got Carmel within 46-44, but Wilterdink flipped in a shot on the baseline, then completed another three-point play off a post move.

"The whole team played hard," said Wilterdink, who scored 10 points (4 of 4 from the line) in the fourth. "I just wanted to play. I knew me and my team would fight, and I would fight through (the injury). We needed that first win."

Carmel averaged 69.8 points per game at Grant but was stifled by Libertyville's 3-2 zone.

"We saw zone from Schurz and North Lawndale (at Grant), but it was more of a pressure zone," Carmel coach Zack Ryan said. "When a team plays a zone like (Libertyville's) that backs up like that, we struggle with that. I think not being able to make shots consistently and really attack it enough throughout the game made a difference. We said, 'We might see those zones, but we got to hang our hat on getting stops.' "

Carmel didn't.

Libertyville shot 22 of 45 from the floor, as every time the Corsairs closed the margin, the Wildcats answered with a basket.

"They hit toguh shots," Ryan said. "Hats off to them. They executed their game plan. We could just never get into a rhythm."

Carmel's Kimahri Wilson came in averaging 25 points per game after scoring 66 points in Carmel's last two games at Grant, helping him net MVP honors. But the sophomore point guard scored just 9 points (one 3-pointer) on 4-of-8 shooting.

"I think our zone stopped their perimeter shooting and their attack (style)," Wilterdink said. "(Wilson) is always in attack mode. I thought we did a good job of closing the gaps and not letting him attack."

Damone Williams-Gray led Carmel with 14 points, while Johnny Roeser added 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Before the game, Roeser, a varsity starter since he was a freshman three years ago, was presented with a souvenir basketball for scoring his 1,000th career point last week.

"They're a really good team," Zyrkowski said of the Corsairs. "There are not many ways you can guard them. They're just a matchup nightmare."

Libertyville also got 13 points apiece from Jackson Watson and Josh Steinhaus. Watson went 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.