Savatic, Libertyville roar past Prospect
For Libertyville athletic director Briant Kelly, his school’s colors, apparently, are thicker than blood.
His sister, Martha Kelly, coaches Prospect’s girls basketball team.
Libertyville battled none other than Prospect for a Class 4A regional championship at Deerfield on Thursday night.
“Haven’t contacted her since Tuesday, when her team last played (in a 1-point defeat of Carmel, in a regional semi),” Briant said at the half. “I congratulated her then.
“I wanted to give her some space — that’s why we haven’t talked.”
He also made a confession Thursday night.
“I’m rooting for the black and orange (Libertyville’s school colors), all the way,” the loyal AD said.
The black/orange combo was spooky good, limiting Prospect’s Knights to 10 second-half points in a 48-32 victory. Wildcats senior forward Kaca Savatic (10 points, 9 rebounds) played caffeinated ball in the third quarter, netting 6 of her club’s 9 points and grabbing 3 rebounds. She also collected a steal and shoved blurry, right-on passes in transition.
She.
Was.
Everywhere.
“Our main goal in the second half was to come out with energy,” Savatic said. “All I did was feed off the rest of the team’s energy.
“We all do that.”
Top-seeded Libertyville (29-0) will face either Zion-Benton or Hersey — which play tonight — in a Mundelein sectional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Libertyville senior point guard Savannah Trees (5 rebounds, 3 steals) scored a game-high 13 points Thursday, and junior teammate Kerry Risley, a reserve forward/center, finished with 10 points and 3 boards. She opened — and closed — the second quarter with a bucket.
Her basket, with four ticks left before the half, put the Wildcats up 30-22.
“One of her best games of the season, easily,” Wildcats coach Kathie Swanson said. “Kerry gave us a huge lift off the bench.”
Eighth-seeded Prospect (15-13) trailed 12-3 at 3:03 of the first quarter. But a 3-pointer by Christina Brucci, followed by a Jessica Petrovski basket, got the Knights right back in it. Prospect senior guard/forward Ashley Wabik (12 points) poured in 8 points in the second frame; her second 3-pointer in the quarter pared Libertyville’s lead to 26-21.
But the consistent star of the second half was Libertyville’s suffocating, team defense.
“I was proud of our girls,” said Martha Kelly, the Knights’ fourth-year coach. “They played their hearts out, battled. Libertyville — you saw why that team’s undefeated. Their players did a good job of rotating over, helping on defense. They shot well, and all of them, it seemed, handle the ball well.”
Wildcats junior guard Alex Haley (7 points, 2 steal) passed particularly well. She provided the last assist of the third quarter and the first of the fourth quarter.
Knights sophomore guard Michelle Molini tallied 7 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Afterward, as Libertyville’s hoopsters prepared to snip a net, Briant Kelly’s sister was on his mind.
“Her team played tough; she should be proud,” he said. “It was hard to watch her lose tonight.”