Libertyville narrowly defeats Buffalo Grove

Libertyville 40, Buffalo Grove 38

Although it trailed Buffalo Grove 27-20 at intermission, Libertyville's girls basketball team knew it was far from out of its opening game of the Bison Classic.

"We had a long talk at half," said Wildcats coach Jamie Swanson. "We talked about playing up to our potential and playing tough."

The Wildcats defense got the message, limiting the Bison to just one 3-point basket in the third quarter by junior Heather Nisbet (game-high 16 points) with 32 seconds.

The game was tied 30-30 heading into the final eight minutes and the Wildcats went on to edge BG 40-38.

"We were more proactive in the second half rather than reactive like we were in the first," Swanson said.

Senior Kristy Williams and junior Katelynn Jennings led Libertyville with 10 points each while junior Leah Kruckman added 8 and senior Erin Waehner 6.

In addition to Nisbet, Andrea DiPrima added 11 points and Kelly Mahoney 9 for the Bison, who played their first game for rookie coach Pat Dudle.

"We have a totally different game plan this year because we aren't going to be taller than a lot of teams," Nisbet said. "We'll try run the ball as much as possible. We let that lead slip through our hands. That's something we have to improve on. And I know we will. We just have to get it out of the way and move on."

A 16-foot baseline shot by Mahoney, a 3-pointer by DiPrima and driving layup by Nisbet gave BG its biggest lead at 27-16 before Libertyville (1-1) went on a 14-0 run.

"I told the girls the first five minutes of the second half dictates the rest of the game," said Dudle, the first new Bison coach 29 seasons after Hall of Famer om Dineen (677 wins) retired from education last spring, "We came out sloppy and Libertyville took advantage of it.

"I think the difference was their execution to get the ball inside and we just relied on too many outside shots."