Quick-starting Libertyville rolls to victory
Slow starts had hampered Libertyville’s girls basketball team before its Buffalo Grove Bison Classic Thanksgiving tournament finale against Westinghouse Saturday afternoon.
The score on Saturday afternoon, after one quarter: 27-3, Libertyville.
Slow no more.
“We came out with intensity, with good purpose,” Wildcats coach Kathie Swanson said after her club’s 60-31 rout. “We attacked the basket.
“But we didn’t sustain intensity in the other three quarters.”
Libertyville (4-1) amassed 9 steals in the first quarter — 2 in the first minute — and scored the game’s first 14 points. Wildcats junior guard Olivia Mayer collected 4 of her 5 steals in the first frame, and senior center Nicole Kruckman and junior reserve guard/forward Haley Hoeksel netted 6 points apiece in the first eight minutes.
Hoeksel (9 points) struck for her trio of buckets in a breathless 44-second span.
A Kruckman bucket, at 5:28 of the second quarter, ballooned the lead to 33-3.
Libertyville held a palindromic advantage, 41-14, at halftime.
Wildcats senior guard Alex Haley and junior reserve forward Dana Kym each scored a team-high 11 points. Kym came down with 10 rebounds — all in the second half.
Kruckman finished with 10 points and 8 boards; senior guard Eileen Knauff came up with 6 steals; and senior forward Kerry Risley contributed 8 points.
Freshman guard/forward Akina Wellere paced Westinghouse (2-5) with 15 points.
Bison Classic champ Maine South (6-0 overall, 5-0 in the tournament) beat the host school 48-25 Saturday afternoon.
Haley and Knauff earned all-tourney honors.
Hersey 41, Maine West 35: Renee Poulos is the youngest player on Hersey’s girls basketball roster.
But that doesn’t mean the 5-foot-8 sophomore forward can’t play like an upperclassman.
For the second time in four games, Poulos led the Huskies in scoring.
This time, she tossed in 14 points as Hersey won its second game at the Maine West Tip-Off Classic.
The Huskies grabbed a 13-7 lead after one quarter and never trailed in a 41-35 triumph over the host Warriors.
Senior Maggie Hogen scored 7 of her 13 points in the first quarter for Hersey and also pulled down 18 rebounds. She has 47 rebounds in three tourney games.
“Maggie was amazing,” said senior point guard Jen Hall (5 points), who directs the offense. “And Renee has really stepped up inside and is playing great. I’m really proud of her.”
Poulos scored 12 of her points in the second half.
“Renee has really been a pleasant surprise,” said Hersey coach Mary Fendley, whose team is 2-2 and 2-1 in the Classic. “She has hit some really big shots. We’ve had three different leading scorers in four games, with Renee being the leader twice.”
“We are improving each game, so that’s good,” Poulos said. “It’s great working inside with Maggie (Hogen). She’s great. Our shooting percentage has not been that great, but if we put our shooting together with our rebounding, then things will be even better.”
Sophomore Brittany Collins led Maine West (0-4, 0-3) with 16 points and 7 rebounds.
Senior guard Amanda Hoye chipped in 10 points with 5 assists and 3 steals while classmate and backcourt partner Megan John scored 8 points with 3 rebounds.
“If we get the ball more to Brittany, we’d probably be better off,” said Maine West coach Derril Kipp. “I thought Megan John played better than she has been. She looked to shoot the ball a little more this game.