Williams, Libertyville getting it done

One thing Libertyville's girls basketball team can bank on is Kristy Williams.

After three consecutive games of scoring 19 points, Williams broke out of her pattern - barely - on Tuesday night.

This time she scored a game-high 17 as the host Wildcats won their North Suburban Lake Division opener over Lake Forest 48-31.

In the second quarter, Williams scored 11 points, leading Libertyville on a 13-2 spurt and a 23-11 halftime lead.

Fittingly, Williams banked in a long-range jumper with two-minutes remaining. And no, she didn't call glass.

"Actually, I was ready to rebound it when I saw it hit the glass," said Willliams, who was 6 for 9 from the field. "It was nice to see it go in. I was just rushing the shot and luckily it went in.

"When I get caught in the moment, I guess it kind of happens."

The Wildcats (3-4, 1-0) got into their own flow, and it carried over into the second half. Libertyville started the third quarter with 8 more points for 21 unanswered and took a 31-11 lead on a Williams layup with 5:48 remaining.

Libertyville held a 37-20 advantage over Lake Forest (2-5, 0-1) at the end of the third quarter.

The Wildcats' Leah Kruckman (12 rebounds) and Erin Waehner each had 8 points.

"It's a big win for us, the division opener at home," Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson said. "We wanted to protect our home court. We wanted a strong start and we needed to clean some things up."

This wasn't the first time the Scouts have had problems scoring in the second half of games.

"This was pretty typical of our first 7 games," Lake Forest coach Nick Balaban said. "We just go through stretches of not shooting the ball well and not getting an offensive rebound. We've got to figure out the end of the first quarter and second quarter. That's been the enigma all season. Every game this season our second quarter has been a disaster. We just don't seem to score."

The Scouts were led by Caelan Rottman with 13 points and Jamee Jacobson.