Lake Forest hangs on against youthful Libertyville
On paper, it wasn't much of a game.
Visiting Lake Forest was on the cusp of its 20th win while host Libertyville was clearly a .500 club.
Yet on Wednesday night, the young Wildcats had the ball with a chance to tie in the final minute.
But that 20-game winner got 12 points each from 6-foot-1 point guard Halle Douglass and freshman guard Finola Summerville in holding off the Wildcats 44-39 in North Suburban Conference play.
"In the first half, they killed us on the boards," said Lake Forest coach Kyle Wilhelm. "But our freshman guard Finola Summerville played outstanding on both ends of the court."
Summerville is the younger sister of Maeve Summerville, who was lost for the season to a knee injury.
The Scouts (20-8, 9-3) had a quick start. Aided by 5 free throws from Douglass, the Scouts were up 16-9 after a quarter.
"We are capable of playing really good defense," said Libertyvile sophomore guard Abigail Frea. "We needed to play better against Douglass."
Libertyville hosted senior night and saluted the team's lone senior, Morgan Manski. She gave the home crowd something to yell about as the first half closed: Her lone 3-pointer of the night beat the half court buzzer.
The Cats (13-12, 6-6) were within 23-19 at the break.
"All of our losses are against good teams," said Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen.
Frea had the first basket of the second half on a tough reverse shot. On the second 3 of the night from Lauren Huber (11 points), the young Cats had a lead at 28-26.
Sharpshooter Lydia Crow led the Cats with 12 points.
"They hit some free throws at the end," Pedersen added. "But this was a one-possession game in the final minute."
Frea is still feeling good about her team and likes the spirit Libertyville continues to show.
"We have a really energized team," she said "We all cheer for each other."