Libertyville answers Barrington's challenge

Kathie Swanson suspected her team's 15-4 and 29-14 leads over Barrington on Friday meant very little.

"I knew they (Barrington) would come back," said the Libertyville girls basketball coach. "They're a good team, I was waiting for it."

The Fillies did indeed make that comeback, tying the game at 34-34 a minute into the final quarter.

But then Swanson's group showed it's a good team, too.

The Wildcats dug in and showed its character as well, pulling out a 46-42 victory in the penultimate round of the six-team round-robin Bison Classic.

"We were getting a little nervous," said Wildcats sophomore guard Alex Haley, who tossed in 10 of her 12 points in the first half. "We just had to slow down and pull it together. We had contain to contain them on defense at the end."

Junior guard Sam Maasarani (13 points, all in the second half) helped the Fillies battle back, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and a running 12-footer on the baseline to cap a 14-2 run which tied the game at 34.

But sophomore forward Nicole Kruckman grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a 10-footer to give Libertyville the lead right back, 36-34, with 5:50 left in the game.

That bucket ignited an 8-1 run (42-35 lead) by the Wildcats which included buckets from Savannah Trees (8 points), Kruckman (4 points) and 2 free throws by Kaca Savatic, who led the Wildcats with 15 points.

"We got nervous but we held our composure," Kruckman said.

Maasarani's third 3-pointer got the Fillies to within 42-40 with 3:19 left.

But Savatic came up with a big steal and layup for a 44-40 lead with 1:17 remaining.

Shelby Whigham, who led Barrington with 15 points, hit a 10-footer in the lane to cut the deficit to 44-42 with a minute left.

Libertyville capped the scoring with two big free throws from Trees with 19 seconds left.

"Obviously, Sam (Maasarani) gave us a lift offensively in the second half," said Fillies coach Babbi Barreiro. "She hit some big buckets. Shelby (Whigham) had a very big game for us. She looked tough. She played without fear or hesitation."

Barrington is now 3-1 in the tourney, tied with Maine South and Libertyville (3-2 overall).

"It was a disappointing loss because we feel we are a better team than we showed," Barreiro said. "But I credit our girls for battling back and tying the game."

Swanson said her team wanted to rebound after a tough loss to Maine South last Tuesday.

"This was a statement game for us" she said. "I challenged the girls to show me what they had after that game against Maine South. So I was very happy with the win. I'm very proud of them."