Libertyville hustles way to win over Warren
Will Moore chased the long rebound, grabbed it with both hands, jumped to stay inbounds and then shoved the basketball to an open teammate Saturday afternoon.
Alive. Moore, Libertyville's 6-foot-5 senior forward/center, had extended the life of a key possession in the third quarter of a North Suburban Conference boys basketball game at Warren.
Who needs a defibrillator when an alert Moore is in the house?
Libertyville would collect another offensive rebound in the possession, before Moore made his mates even merrier with a basket to punctuate the visitors' 10-0 run. The Wildcats enjoyed a plump 43-31 lead after the spurt and ended up topping a dogged bunch of Blue Devils 61-54.
"Hustle plays," Wildcats coach Brian Zyrkowski said of his club's primary weapons for most of the third quarter. "Second chances. Patrick (Graham) came up with several of those for us."
But Libertyville (14-7, 4-4) had relied on something entirely different - Miami-in-the-summer 3-point shooting - to erase a 9-2 deficit after 5-plus minutes and to thoroughly change the tenor of the matinee with six 3s in the second quarter.
Libertyville junior guard Blake Ellingson (16 points, including four 3s, and 4 rebounds) gave the Wildcats a 23-21 lead with his triple in the frame. Sophomore forward/center Chase Bonder (12 points) hit a pair of treys, and Moore, senior guard Jackson Watson (8 points, 3 steals) and junior reserve guard James Steinhaus each connected once from 3-point real estate.
Libertyville drained 11 treys in all, 9 in the first 16 minutes.
Libertyville outscored Warren (7-14, 2-6) 22-13 in quarter two to secure a 33-28 advantage at intermission.
"There was a point in the second quarter when we cracked," Blue Devils coach Jon Jasnoch said after his squad's fifth straight setback. "Libertyville hit a couple of big shots in a row, and we didn't respond. We had a little letdown there. You can try to shut down one of their fine shooters, but you have to be aware that they have two, three other shooters who are just as dangerous.
"I'm happy with the way we battled against a very good team. Our guys played with a lot of heart."
Graham (5 points and a team-high 8 boards, including 3 off offensive glass) pumped Libertyville up with his guile in the second half. The 6-4 senior forward negotiated his way to an ideal position to snare what appeared to be a no-doubt-about-it defensive rebound by a Warren big man. Later, in the fourth quarter, Graham faked a 3-point attempt, blasted past a Blue Devil, drove baseline and jostled twine with an easy layup.
"Our guys are good at figuring things out on the court," said Zyrkowski, whose guys withstood a 9-2 Warren run in the fourth quarter after Watson had given the Wildcats a 56-39 cushion via a field goal at the 4:21 mark.
"Our guys play unselfish basketball," the coach added. "They love to pass. They care."
Warren tallied its 29th, 30th and 31st points on senior guard Jason Langevin's '3' in the first minute of the third quarter, surpassing its full-game point total in recent losses to Stevenson and Mundelein. Langevin would tie classmate Juan De La Cruz for team-high honors in scoring (14). Warren's three other starters - senior forwards Adnan Sarancic and Seamus Mellican and junior point guard Breyton Caruthers - finished with 9, 9 and 8 points, respectively.
"Warren," Zyrkowski noted, "played well. Warren ran its stuff and rebounded well."
Warren trailed only 58-50 with about 90 seconds left. De La Cruz (team-best 6 rebounds) struck for 6 points in the Blue Devils' surge between 3:41 and 1:26 of the final quarter.
Moore, three days removed from scoring a career-high 27 points in a defeat of Zion-Benton, returned the gap to double digits with his final field goal of the day at 1:14. Libertyville junior guard Marc Michelotti capped his crew's scoring with a free throw; his steal-and-pass sequence had preceded a Bonder bucket earlier in the quarter.