Signature win for Libertyville

Valerie Van Roeyen hasn't mastered the art of scribbling a quick, unreadable autograph for adoring fans.

Libertyville's senior guard practically wrote short stories on grapefruit-sized basketballs Wednesday night. VVR found herself surrounded by at least six grade-school girls after she and the Wildcats topped visiting Zion-Benton 43-39 in a taut North Suburban Lake Division girls hoops battle.

Each big-eyed fan thrust a small ball toward one of Libertyville's several clutch performers.

"First, I wrote each girl's name on the ball, which had kind of a bumpy surface," Van Roeyen said. "Then I wrote, 'You rock.' Then I signed my name. After my name, I wrote my uniform number (10)."

Ten also happened to be her point total Wednesday night, 2 fewer than teammate Olivia Wilcox's club-best total. But Van Roeyen's signature moment - before the autograph session - was her assessment of the gratifying victory. She said neither "I" nor "me."

"Teamwork and defense - those were the keys for us tonight," she said. "We had to play a strong game at both ends of the court, and we did. Our rebounding also was crucial."

Wilcox grabbed the final board of the night, with 1.4 seconds left. A sea of maroon-clad Zee-Bees enveloped her immediately, trying to poke the ball free. But the Wildcat protected it well as she was fouled. Wilcox drained both ensuing free throws.

"She did a great job of keeping her elbows out after that rebound, to create space for herself," said Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson, whose squad improved to 9-0, 3-0 after limiting the visitors to 4 points in the fourth frame. "All of our players were disciplined at the end, played smart basketball at the end. Composure. Composure, I thought, helped us win tonight more than anything else."

Wildcats senior guard Savanna Trees (8 points) was calm at a critical moment Wednesday night, nailing a 15-footer jumper at 0:51 of the fourth quarter to break a 37-37 tie. She had grabbed a fairly lengthy rebound before the bucket, surveyed Zion-Benton's defense, dribbled, launched. Her expression throughout: expressionless.

"So steady and cool," Swanson said. "Savanna is one of the steadiest players I've coached. And that shot she took? Such a smooth shot."

A pair of free throws from Trees gave the hosts a 41-37 advantage with 31.5 seconds left. Talent-soaked Juanita Robinson (17 points, 8 rebounds) of Z-B netted a field goal six seconds later for her team's final points.

The biggest lead of the night before the final quarter was Zion-Benton's 6-1 gap in the third minute. Z-B tied it at 24-24 at break, on Robinson's buzzer-beating trey. The Zee-Bees (6-2, 1-2) owned a 35-33 lead after three quarters.

"A very close game," said Robinson, who tallied all 4 of her team's points in the final eight minutes. "They came at us hard and played up-tempo very well. We did our best. We tried. But we can play better, so much better, than we did tonight. We have to communicate better on the court."

Libertyville junior guard Alex Haley hit for all 8 of her points in the first quarter, and 6 of those came in a 6-2 run. Van Roeyen authored the next 4 points, upping Libertyville's lead to 11-8.

"It's a great start to the season for us," Van Roeyen said. "We've been working hard, and we want to go far (in the postseason). Wins, for us, come down to playing well as a team and using our team defense to create our offense."

Libertyville junior center Nicole Kruckman came down with 4 of her team-high 6 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

Z-B senior guard Helena Rodriguez connected for a trio of treys and finished with 13 points.