Lake Zurich stymies Libertyville to grab NSC lead

 
By John Bumbales
Daily Herald Correspondent
Updated 1/11/2023 10:07 PM

The last two undefeated teams in the North Suburban Conference met in a showdown for first place when host Lake Zurich met Libertyville in a North Suburban Conference girls basketball showdown Wednesday night.

Overall, the host Bears had the upper hand in this rivalry as they built a 14-point first half lead before taking a 31-21 lead into the final quarter.

 

Libertyville (16-3, 6-1) did cut the lead to 40-34 with 34 seconds to play. But Lake Zurich (16-3, 8-0) was able to hold on with two late free throws by Baylie Parks to seal a 42-34 NSC victory in the pressure-packed game.

The Bears pretty much set the tone for the game from the outset as they built an early 14-4 lead. They led 16-8 after one quarter, and 24-16 at halftime.

It looked like the Wildcats would get back into the game when Kate Rule hit a 10-footer to cap an 8-point run, cutting Lake Zurich's lead to 24-18 early in the third quarter. But a 7-1 run by the Bears boosted the lead back up to 31-19 late in the period.

"Lake Zurich played a really good game. They were defensively strong, and we didn't respond well," said Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen, whose team only shot 1-for-18 from beyond the 3-point arch. "It was just a miserable shooting night. It's all credit to Lake Zurich, and we need to do better. Not good enough."

by signing up you agree to our terms of service
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 

Libertyville's Emily Fisher (9 points) scored on a drive with 7:50 to play to cut the lead to 31-23. But a 9-point run by the Bears gave the hosts their biggest lead at 40-23 with 5:41 remaining.

Two free throws by Libertyville's Rachel Rule (team-high 13 points) capped an 11-point run for the Wildcats. But that was as close as they would get at 40-34 as a missed 3-pointer with 22 seconds left sealed what little chance Libertyville had of pulling off a miracle win.

"We played an outstanding three quarters and then held on for our lives. But Libertyville is a great basketball team so sooner or later they are going to make a big run," said Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett. "We haven't beaten them in the last three years so it was nice to get a W and finishing the first half of the conference season undefeated is nice."

Parks scored 9 points in each half to account for her game-high 18 points while teammate Brooke Wahlund scored 8 points.

Molly Friesen scored 6 points for the Bears while teammates Anna Gilbertson and Avery Cooper scored 5 points each.

Go to comments: 0 posted
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.