Libertyville 45, Stevenson 38

Tennessee wasn't the place to be for Casey Hopper.

So after moving there for a month during her sophomore basketball season last winter because of her dad's job, she found herself back at Libertyville.

"It was really bizarre," Wildcats coach Kathie Swanson said. "When she came back, I was like, 'Are you visiting, or are you back?' "

Libertyville is elated Hopper is a Wildcat again. The 5-foot-11 post player scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds Friday night to lift Libertyville to a 45-38 win over host Stevenson in a North Suburban Lake Division game.

Just call her a happy Hopper.

"I'm thrilled to be back," Hopper said.

Hopper scored 7 points in the pivotal fourth quarter in which Libertyville (6-4, 1-2) outscored the home team 16-9.

Her three-point play with 5:57 left snapped a 31-31 tie, and the Wildcats never relinquished the lead.

"Casey's been working hard on her inside game, we were looking for her tonight, and she did an outstanding job," Swanson said. "I was really happy with what she did."

Kelsey Simon, Stevenson's 6-1 sophomore, scored on an offensive rebound -- her only shot of the game -- with 5:45 remaining to pull the Patriots within 34-33. But Dana Eriksen answered with a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass from Ali Haws.

Libertyville, which saw Stevenson (3-6, 1-1) score the first seven points of the second half to take a 25-18 lead, eventually swelled its advantage to 10.

"We're a young and inexperienced team and I thought they took a big step tonight," Swanson said of her players. "They were put in a position where things didn't look too good (early in the third quarter). With an inexperienced team, you never know what's going to happen.

"They kept their composure and they played smart offensively. We went into a little bit of a press in the second half, got some good looks off it, and I thought we did a good job of trying to exploit (Stevenson's) post defense."

Added Hopper: "We just really pulled it together, talked, kept our spirits high and finished the game out."

Down 39-35 after Caitlin Morrissey scored with 3:55 left, Stevenson didn't score again until Kayla Fisher hit a 3 in the closing seconds.

"We just didn't capitalize on our opportunities," said coach Trish Betthauser, whose Patriots try to snap a four-game losing streak in a Sweet 16 game today at Palatine.

"We missed a lot of layups and then we gave up some offensive rebounds at the end there that just gave them more and more opportunities."

Fisher and Claire Moller each scored 10 points for Stevenson, while Simon had 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

Maka Stewart added 8 points and Haws had 8 rebounds for Libertyville.