Warren returns to form at Libertyville's expense

After she and her Warren basketball teammates lost to a Lakes team that started the season 0-6, Kaylen Dickson heard about it on social media.

"I got a few Snapchats right after the game - 'How'd you lose to Lakes?' " Dickson said. "It happens, you know. We had to come back from it, and we had to take it in stride. It just meant that we needed to work harder on defense."

Four nights after dropping a six-point decision at Lakes, Warren hosted Libertyville in North Suburban Conference action, and the Blue Devils were ready to show that they remain one of the top teams in Lake County. The Wake Forest-bound Dickson had 19 points (three 3-pointers), 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots, as Warren led from start to finish in capturing a 54-39 decision Wednesday night.

Warren improved to 6-3 and 3-0 in the NSC, while Libertyville dropped to 4-4 and 1-2.

Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen knew he'd see a hungry team when his Wildcats arrived in Gurnee.

"Didn't like seeing that (Lakes-Warren) score," Pedersen said. "Our kids knew, and they had to be ready, but at the beginning of the game we got outmuscled. We'd force a miss but they'd clean it up, and that was a tone-setter for the game. It's something we got to get better at, and it's something (Warren) is good at."

Warren scored the game's first 5 points and never let up. The 5-foot-11 Dickson finished the quarter with a spin move and bucket in the lane to hike the Blue Devils' lead to 19-7. Dana Lundtveit, Warren's 6-1 junior post, scored 6 of her 8 points and grabbed 5 of her 7 rebounds in the opening quarter.

"I think (the key) was just good ball movement, getting open and doing what we do best," Dickson said. "I feel we rush ourselves sometimes, and it leads to some bad possessions. I thought we did a lot better than we did on Saturday."

Dickson's career-high 31 points weren't enough against Lakes, which was red hot "from the jump," Dickson said, as the Eagles knocked down six 3-pointers in the first quarter. Warren was coming off a win against defending NSC champ Stevenson less than 24 hours earlier.

"(Lakes) didn't shoot like a 1-6 team," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "They played really well, and they took advantage of a team that had played a really hard, emotional game the night before."

Warren also played most of the second half against Lakes without Jordyn Hughes, who got poked in the eye and finished with just 3 points. Hughes' eye didn't seem to affect her against Libertyville, as she had 10 points (two 3-pointers) and 4 steals.

Up 33-22 at halftime, Warren outscored Libertyville 15-8 in the third quarter, opening the half with a 7-0 run that included a Dickson 3-pointer.

"I think we're looking for a 32-minute effort still," Stanczykiewicz said. "We had that mostly against Stevenson. We play well in spurts, and when we play well in spurts and we're focused on what we need to do to be successful, I think we're a pretty good basketball team. When we don't, we become very ordinary."

Sophomore Margaret Buchert had 18 points, including five 3s, for Libertyville, which also got a double-double from freshman Lauren Huber (11 points, 10 rebounds).

Stanczykiewicz is still looking for consistency from his bench. He used 15 players against Libertyville.

"We need our wins to be team efforts," Stanczykiewicz said. "We need players to come off the bench and play well for us."