Libertyville grasps North Suburban Conference title

Unlike any basketball hurled in her direction Wednesday night, Libertyville forward Kaca Savatic had difficulty grasping the four goals she said her team set heading into the North Suburban Conference championship game.

The four goals?

"Communicate ... rebound ... push the ball up on transition?" Savatic said. "I don't know (the fourth goal). But we met it, because we won. So it's all good."

Savatic cradled the proof. She held tight the NSC championship trophy after Libertyville defeated host Wauconda 56-40. Wildcats sophomore guard Alex Haley scored a game-high 16 points, while Savatic added 14 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals.

Both Lake Division champion Libertyville (23-5) and Prairie Division champ Wauconda (19-6) were playing in the conference title game for the first time.

"Libertyville's a good team," Bulldogs coach Jaime Dennis said. "We played a really good team tonight, and for three quarters we hung with them and we played very well. Unfortunately, that first quarter got us in quite a hole."

Libertyville's defensive pressure helped force 10 turnovers in the opening quarter and helped the Wildcats spurt to a 6-0 lead. Their advantage grew to 16-6 entering the second quarter. Putbacks by Nicole Kruckman, Savatic and Haley helped make up for 6 turnovers.

"I expected it to be as fast-paced as it was because we were told that (Wauconda) was a really quick team," said the 6-foot Kruckman, who celebrated her 16th birthday by scoring 9 points and hauling down 11 rebounds. "I didn't expect them to be so up in our faces."

When Libertyville wasn't creating havoc defensively, the Wildcats were grabbing seemingly every rebound. They outboarded the Bulldogs 22-10 in the first half, with 14 of the rebounds coming on the offensive glass.

"That hurt us," said Dennis, whose team trailed 28-17 at halftime. "They had 14 points off those. That was half their point total. We would have been leading the game if we had just boxed out."

For the game, Libertyville won the rebounding battle by a 38-21 margin.

"(Wauconda) had height, but I thought we were quicker down low," Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson said. "I thought if we worked around them we could probably get the rebounds."

Libertyville continued to stretch its lead after halftime, with Wauconda getting no closer than 11 points. When Haley found Savannah Trees (9 points) for a short baseline jumper in the closing seconds of the third quarter, the Wildcats' advantage was 43-28.

Wauconda, which received 10 points apiece from Kate Martino (4 assists, 4 steals) and Tammy Ellis (4 steals), had 25 turnovers through three quarters and 28 for the game.

"If we get our energy up on defense, that's what sparks our offense," Savatic said.

The game was typical of how Libertyville has won all season - team defense, balanced scoring, hustle and composure.

"I thought Savannah Trees did a good job of controlling the ball," Swanson said. "I thought Alex Haley did a good job of stepping up and knocking down her shot, and Kaca was all over the place getting us rebounds and (providing) energy."