Ice-cold shooting costs Libertyville vs. Lake Forest

Tyler Schweigert's strong drive to the basket in the first minute looked better than the result, which was a miss.

Ryan Barth had a point-blank shot of his own on Libertyville's next possession, and that didn't fall either.

It never got better for the Wildcats.

"It snowballed," coach Scott Bogumil said after his Wildcats lost to host Lake Forest 41-31 Friday on a night when most shooters struggled as much as the halftime participants who paid $1 in hopes of winning a T-shirt with a made 3-pointer.

In its North Suburban Lake Division first-place showdown with the Scouts, this might have been a first for Libertyville's proud basketball program: 1 point in the first half from its starting five.

Thank goodness for the Wildcats that they at least had Hobie Herberger. The 6-foot-3 senior scored 10 points in the first half, which ended with Lake Forest in front 17-11.

"I was just trying to pick our team up when we were down, trying to get a little spark so we could keep going," said Herberger, who finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds. "I was just trying to get in and put some points on the board for us so we could try to cut (the deficit) down and then just keep easing back into the game."

Libertyville (9-6, 4-2) probably was never completely out of the game until Mitch Hopfinger's second three-point play of the fourth quarter put Lake Forest (10-6, 5-1) up 39-28 with 1:31 left.

Hopfinger finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

A runner by Schweigert, who scored 6 of his 7 points in the second half, had pulled Libertyville within 36-28 with 1:56 to go.

"You got to give (Lake Forest) a lot of credit," Bogumil said. "They're just so good defensively, and we played their tempo. They want to hold it in a half-court game and grind it out, and we're sort of a hybrid. We want to run."

Libertyville came in averaging nearly 60 points per game and had put up 71 and 66 points, respectively, in wins over Mundelein and Round Lake last weekend.

In the first half against Lake Forest, Libertyville sank just 4 of 24 shots. The Wildcats shot 26 percent (13 of 50) for the game.

"We were very fortunate that they didn't shoot the ball very well," Scouts coach Phil LaScala said. "I hope some of that had to do with our defense, but I think we just got them on a good night."

Lake Forest never trailed, scoring the game's first nine points, before Herberger closed the quarter for Libertyville with a 3-pointer and a spin move and bucket.

Another 3 by Herberger late in the half finally got Libertyville into double digits.

"He gave us a huge lift," Bogumil said of his super sub. "That's what he's been doing all year, coming off the bench and creating a spark."

Herberger was the Wildcats' only spark, however.

"Just a really slow game," Herberger said. "They're like a half-court offense - that's what Lake Forest likes to run - and we weren't running our break very well today."

Lake Forest, which showed earlier in the season against Mundelein that it also can play up-tempo and win, was deliberate on nearly every possession.

"We were a lot more patient offensively because they switch a lot of screens and they get you in a position where you have to be patient," said LaScala, whose Scouts took over sole possession of first in the NSC Lake. "Then you can attack what they give you. If we would just go, go, go, it probably would be to their advantage."

Libertyville has no time to lament, as it hosts Stevenson tonight.

"I just was a little disappointed with how we responded," Bogumil said. "When (shots) weren't falling, I thought at times we were getting a little whiny and looking for calls, and that's not indicative of how we are. We've been really tough mentally."