Libertyville stops Lake Forest
Libertyville boys basketball coach Scott Bogumil was getting tired.
Tired of watching his Wildcats lose in the waning moments of games.
“Eight,” he said Friday night at Lake Forest. “We’ve lost that many games in the final minute this season.”
In the final minute against LF’s Scouts Friday night, Libertyville owned a 43-42 lead.
Here we go again?
Nope.
The Wildcats denied a ninth agonizing setback, hitting 12 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter to claim a 51-44 win in a North Suburban Conference Lake Division finale.
A little late fun helped, too.
Bogumil and his bench players shouted the names of NBA players, as Wildcats prepared to shoot freebies in the final frame.
Libertyville senior guard Ryan Barth heard “Kobe Bryant” — his favorite pro — six times in the final eight minutes.
He made all six.
“I was trying to keep the guys loose late in the game,” said Bogumil, whose stress-free boys netted 23 of 26 free throws Friday night. “I was really proud of the guys, after the struggles we’ve had with injuries, so many different lineups, craziness.
“I liked our patience tonight, as well. Our Achilles’ heel, so often this season, has been a tendency to rush things.”
Barth was in no rush to score – in the first quarter. What he did in the final three quarters: score 22 points and whip the best entry pass of the night, to a cutting Anthony Mack at 1:03 of the third quarter.
It was a Steve Nash-like – sorry, Kobe – assist.
Mack (5 points, 4 rebounds), a junior reserve forward, had nailed a trey in the previous possession, after Lake Forest (9-13, 3-9) knotted matters at 29-29.
“Mack has been, mostly, a defensive guy for us,” Bogumil said after his club, which led 22-20 at the half, improved to 10-14, 4-8. “But he came up big for us on offense tonight. His shots – he wasn’t afraid, at all, to shoot them. And one of his rebounds was huge, the way he extended himself, snatched it and pulled it down.
“Anthony had been playing behind some talented guys,” he added. “Tonight, he came through with significant minutes for us.”
Libertyville’s defense unnerved Lake Forest in the final 1:25, when the Scouts struggled several times to advance the ball to midcourt. One errant pass struck a Bogumil knee.
“The ball came right at me, and I wasn’t even playing,” he cracked. “My knee? Oh, it’s fine.”
Wildcats Landon Eyre and Griffin Pils each had a fine frame Friday night. Eyre tallied all of his points (6) in the first quarter, and Pils put in all 7 of his in the fourth quarter – including the team’s lone bucket of the quarter (a 3-pointer, at 2:21).
Libertyville junior guard Ellis Matthews finished with 11 points. He hit a third-quarter trey, thanks to another Barth assist, after LF buried consecutive 3-pointers to go up 26-23.
But the difference Friday night, according to a certain Lakers fan?
Da ‘D.’
“Our defense,” Barth said. “Our defense got it done.”
Guard/forward Alex Schwartz, one of three Scouts honored on LF’s Senior Night, scored a team-high 11 points, with 9 coming from 3-point territory. Sophomore mate Carter Bass came down with a game-best 9 boards.