Meyer's 36 points lift Libertyville into semifinals

Don't count out Libertyville.

The Wildcats have proven to be perhaps the most-resilient team at this year's Wildcat Hardwood Classic at Wheeling after Tuesday's come-from-behind 69-64 win over top-seeded Notre Dame in the second round.

And it wasn't easy. They were behind 10-0 and had missed their first 4 shots before Luke Mathewson got them on the board with a putback, his only basket.

Senior forward Billy Meyer, who rang up a career-high 36 points and reserve frontliner Hobie Herberger took over from there. They combined for 50 points, five of Libertyville's seven 3-pointers and generated virtually all of the Wildcats' momentum.

Meyer's uncanny shooting, including field goals on his last 5 attempts, and Herberger's three triples and 3-of-4 shooting from the floor in the second half fueled that.

Accordingly, the Wildcats had drawn within 33-29 at the half and 50-47 after three. Only Shawn Wallace's unstoppable tenacity (24 points) kept Notre Dame (9-4) ahead.

"We just kept chipping away," said Wildcats coach Scott Bogumil. "We just tried to keep chipping away, keep playing good defense."

As to Meyer, "He just willed us along." And Herberger, "He hit two big 3s. We told him he had to knock them down," so Meyer would have room to operate closer to the basket.

In the fourth quarter, Meyer continued his unconscious shooting and Herberger scored 8 of his 14 for the game. With help from John Colao (9 points, two triples) and solid defense from everyone else, the Wildcats held on as a Meyer floater and free throws by Meyer, Herberger and Ryan Barth sealed the win.

"I was feeling it a little bit in warm-ups," Meyer said.

More importantly, he and sophomore Mathewson "talk in practice and said we have to rebound," which they did, to help offset Notre Dame's height advantage and frontcourt depth.

At the timeout after falling behind 10-0, "We said, we just have to come out strong," said Herberger, adding he was gratified to hit the 3-pointers he did after misfiring lately from long range.

"Any big win like this is helpful," to the team's confidence, he added. "This team sticks together."

"We've got another tough test (Wednesday)," said Bogumil, against another top seed, Prospect, in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m.