Maine West surprises Libertyville
Maine West pulled off its second surprise party at Wheeling Thursday night.
The Warriors, who upended Geneva Monday in the first round of the Hardwood Classic, knocked Libertyville out of the championship bracket 63-55 to earn a semifinal date against Notre Dame at 7:15 p/m. Friday.
Maine West coach Tom Prokopij knew things would turn around after a 2-6 start.
"Despite our early-season record," said Prokopij, "the players still believed that they were a good basketball team. They have proved that in the last two games here."
The Warriors (4-6) were led by Jared Pearson's career-high 29 points and 14 points from Sean Collins in beating the now 7-3 Wildcats.
Libertyville held several 7-point leads in the second quarter before the Warriors began to rally in the quarter's final 4:08.
Pearson had just connected on his fourth 3-pointer to make the score 20-16.
Libertyville's Chase Bonder hit for the Wildcats' last basket in the first half to lead 22-16.
Lucas Glaister connected for his only basket, a 3-pointer before Jacob Riedl scored on a hook shot. As the buzzer sounded Daniel Prieto hit for a 3-pointer that gave Maine West the lead at 24-22.
"That was a big shot for us," said Prokopij. "We started handling the ball better and didn't commit any turnovers."
The Wildcats' last lead was at 30-28 on Patrick Graham's basket off an assist from Will Moore with 5:16 left in the third quarter.
Collins finished a 3-point play, Pearson scored on a layup and Collins hit 2 free throws for a 35-30 lead and the Warriors were on their way. Libertyville would get as close as 37-36 on Jackson Watson's 3-pointer but Maine West would score the next 11 points to open the lead to 48-36 just into the fourth quarter.
Libertyville could get no closer than 6 points down the stretch.
"Credit Maine West because they shot the ball well and knocked down some big shots," said Libertyville coach Brian Zyrkowski. "We had that nice little lead in the first half but Pearson, who had a nice game, got into it. He knocked down some big shots. Today was not our day with Maine West. They earned it."
The Wildcats, who normally shoot well from the arc, only connected on 5 of 20 shots.
Graham scored 24 points and had 9 rebounds. Blake Ellingson had 14 points and had 4 assists.
"We've had a hard schedule," said Collins. "We've kept our heads up and we knew when we would start clicking we would be hard to beat. The shots were falling for us today."
The Warriors shot 19 of 36 including hitting 10 3-pointers.
"We had trouble getting over the hump," said Pearson, "but I think we did that today. Winning the first game of the tournament gave us a boost."