Libertyville passes up Streamwood

In Perfect vs. Perfect, precision passing prevailed.

“I think that's the best we've moved the ball all season,” playmaker Savannah Trees said after she and her Libertyville basketball teammates stayed undefeated by knocking off previously unbeaten Streamwood 54-32 in quarterfinal action of Mundelein's Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic on Saturday.

“That just really helped us. We got a lot of open shots. We were setting up everybody, because a lot of people on our team can shoot it.”

Libertyville dished out 16 assists in improving to 13-0 and earning a berth in Wednesday's 6 p.m. semifinal against Hoffman Estates.

“I'm happy with that,” Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson said with a wide smile of her team's dozen-plus dishes. “We're very unselfish. We try to find the open person as much as possible. We know that Streamwood, if you give them shot fakes, they tend to jump up against them. That's when we looked to attack the basket, and that led to a lot of our assists.”

Streamwood fell to 12-1 and saw both 6-foot-3 Michelle Tomczak and Jessica Cerda suffer injuries. Tomczak and Emma Schmidt led the Sabres with 10 points apiece.

“They're not happy,” Streamwood coach George Rosner said of his players. “I don't want them happy. There's nothing to be happy about. We got two injured girls, and we got to be able to come back and play a really solid team (Mundelein) here.”

Tomczak hurt her ankle blocking a shot in the third quarter. She returned, but was limping after the game. Cerda, who underwent an ACL reconstruction in the off-season, tweaked the same knee in the fourth quarter.

Streamwood spotted Libertyville a 12-5 lead after one quarter, with 10 turnovers helping explain why the Sabres got off just 3 shots, making one.

“The first quarter, I thought we could have had a lead,” Rosner said. “Turnovers hurt. I thought defensively we were pretty good. I thought we made (Libertyville) work very hard.”

Libertyville was ready from the get-go and never trailed after Valerie Van Roeyen stole the ball and dribbled the length of the floor for a layup midway through the opening quarter.

Trees' 3-pointer, off a Van Roeyen pass, had Libertyville up 24-15 with two minutes left in the half.

“We weren't overlooking them,” Swanson said of the Sabres. “We knew they were an undefeated team. I had seen them play before, and I knew that all five of their (starters) were a threat to score.”

Trees finished with 15 points, 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds.

“That's what you want out of a point guard,” Swanson said. “She had the mentality to set everybody up first, and then she looked for her shot when it was there. Very unselfish.”

Olivia Wilcox and Kerry Risley came off the bench to score 15 and 7 points, respectively, for Libertyville. Van Roeyen finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and Kaca Savatic hustled for 10 rebounds.

“I think it all starts with our energy,” Trees said. “If we have energy, then we're going to keep moving (the ball) around.”