Libertyville knocks off Buffalo Grove
Having led nearly every step of the way, Libertyville's girls basketball team saw its 13-point second-half lead over Buffalo Grove dwindle to 42-38 with 4:40 left in the game Saturday.
Evidently, though, the Wildcats took their coach's goal seriously.
"We wanted to hold them to under 40 points," said Greg Pedersen. "We're trying to focus on defense this year."
That focus sure paid off in the final 4:40 as the Wildcats did not surrender another point while posting a 49-38 triumph in the second round of the Bison Classic at Buffalo Grove High School.
Freshman Kora Kipley's 8-footer in the lane, and back-to-back 3-pointers from Macy Floro and Kendra Lee to start the final quarter got BG to within 42-38.
But the Wildcats responded with junior guard Lauren Huber's 3-pointer and a fastbreak layup by senior guard Margaret Buchert to spark a game-ending 7-0 run.
"We were coming off a loss in our opening game to Mother McAuley (Thursday) and we wanted to do our best to win this game," said Buchert, who recently signed her letter of intent to play for DePauw University in Greencastle, IN. "We knew Buffalo Grove was good and an aggressive team, and they were today.
"They did a good job coming back at us but our push at the end was just a little better."
Wildcats senior guard Lydia Crow made a big push in the first half when she scored 17 of her game-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes.
"We talked about Crow and the type of shooter she is," said Bison coach Steve Kolodziej. "And we just let her get off to that hot start. That hurt. And we talked about Huber (14 points) and all the things she does. If you look, those two scored 33 of their 49 points."
Huber also pulled down 12 rebounds while Buchert handed out 6 assists with her 9 points.
"The three of them (Crow, Huber and Buchert) played like our best players today," Pedersen said. "When the three of them play together like today and share the ball unselfishly, they are tough to stop."
Pedersen said his club had a lot to prove after its 48-40 loss to McAuley.
"That was little bit of a mistake-ridden game," he said. "We had foul trouble big-time. We were happy we held (Buffalo Grove) under 40 points. They can get up and down the floor. They've got athletes. They've got shooters and they've got muscle. They outmuscled us for that stretch in the third and fourth quarter.
"We responded to their push in the fourth quarter. Our players kept their poise."
The Wildcats' biggest lead was at 38-25 when BG senior Megan Fontanetta hit a 3-pointer to ignite BG's 13-4 run.
The Bison (2-1, 1-1 in tourney) were led by Lee's 14 points. Floro added 7 and Alyssa Ramos, whose time was limited to under a half due to an ankle injury suffered in the first quarter, added 6.
Kolodziej said Ramos "rolled' her ankle and hopefully will be back to full speed in a week or two.
The coach is also without 5-foot-11 senior starter Zori Angelova, who broke a hand bone earlier in the week and is not expected back for four to six weeks.
"And we had another girl, Grace (Vellers, a sophomore guard), who rolled her ankle in practice," Kolodziej added. "So we're being tested by the injury bug."
Libertyville (1-1) will try to get above .500 when it faces Crystal Lake Central (0-2) on Tuesday.
"That's (Libertyville) a really good basketball team," Kolodziej added. "We just didn't execute the game plan to start the game. With that being said, our girls continued to battle and found a way to fight back in the second half.
"It's early in the season. Libertyville was a great team to play and now we look forward to Mother McAuley on Tuesday. We'll find out exactly where we're at before we start the conference season."