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Brown's 40 push Waukegan past Libertyville

Libertyville's boys basketball team saw a welcome sight as sophomore Blake Ellingson stepped onto the basketball court off the bench on Tuesday night.

Ellingson was returning to competition after he had broken his leg in the second week of the football season at quarterback.

He helped the team by hitting a 3-pointer early on and went on to score 7 points and grab 4 rebounds.

"At first when I hit my first shot it was nice," Ellingson said. "It was good to get back into the swing of things. It will take some time. I just have to build some confidence. I've been through a lot of therapy. It felt good to get back and play."

Waukegan had its own show going. Bryant Brown poured in a career-best 40 points and hauled in 9 rebounds leading the Bulldogs to a 79-61 win in a North Suburban Conference game in Libertyville.

Brown couldn't miss a shot in the second half. He dropped in layup after layup and a hit a number of 3-pointers.

"I felt like we played good the entire game," Brown said. "We stuck with it in the third and fourth quarter, the defensive intensity reached on the offensive side. It helped to get easier buckets. I have been practicing on my shot, so it wasn't a surprise to be hitting those shots. I was open and my teammates were giving the ball to me."

Waukegan (7-1, 3-0) held a 36-29 advantage starting the third quarter. But Libertyville (3-6, 1-2) clawed its way back into it and closed to within three points, trailing 45-42 on Ellingson's pair of free throws with just over 3 minutes left.

The Bulldogs closed out the quarter with a 13-2 run for a 58-44 advantage. Brown had 11 of the 13 points in the stretch. Then, Brown opened the fourth with back-to-back treys that opened the score out to 64-44 with 7:08 remaining.

"I think (Waukegan's) defense made us uncomfortable in the second half," Libertyville coach Brian Zyrkowski said. "We did cut it close and in a minute in a half they made it 14. That was the end of the game right there. We clawed back and they lifted it their way. Bryant Brown had a heck of night."

Early on, the Wildcats had the momentum by hitting five 3-pointers in the opening quarter, in which they had a seven-point advantage, only to see the Bulldogs tie the game at 17-17 after the first 8 minutes.

Travis Clark had a team-high for Libertyville with 15 points, Will Moore added 14 and Josh Steinhaus chipped in with 13.

Jaylin Cunning added 20 points and 6 boards for the Bulldogs and Andre White Jr. added 10 points including an alley-oop bounce to Brown in the fourth quarter.

"Libertyville was a good team and they shot the ball well early," Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw said. "The part of the way we play is the cumulative effect. So, if teams have game plans, we have cumulative pressure and cumulative trapping. We're hoping ours will be more than our opponents will."

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