Lake Zurich wears this victory well
Dori Darras’ smiley-face yellow high-tops screamed.
Louder, however, were the screams coming from inside the Lake Zurich girls basketball team’s locker room. The Bears were all smiley and giddy following their 47-39 win over host Libertyville in a North Suburban Lake Division showdown Wednesday night.
While the victory over the two-time defending conference champs was nice, better yet for the Bears was that coach Chris Bennett notified them that their new warm-up gear arrived and that they could pick up the new threads at the high school when they got back.
“Everyone (screamed),” Darras said.
The screaming-loud high-tops the senior forward sported?
“I didn’t mean to wear those,” Darras said with a laugh. “Usually I wear them for practice. ... I put the wrong shoes in my bag.”
The four-year varsity player was more attentive to detail on the court, leading the Bears with 12 points, including a 3-pointer, and 7 rebounds. Stephanie Schmid added 11 points coming off the bench, while Katherine Anderson and Maisie Cox scored 9 points apiece.
Lake Zurich made 18 of 19 free throws (95 percent) in improving to 8-1 and 3-0 in the NSC Lake.
“This is a good win for us,” Bennett said. “We’ve talked about the first half of the conference season. Our little catch phrase is, ‘Open the door,’ and we’re opening the door.”
Libertyville (6-3, 0-2), which lost its second straight, got a game-high 17 points from Alex Haley and 14 points and 7 rebounds from Kerry Risley.
But only four Wildcats scored.
“I think our team lacks an identity, and I think it clearly shows,” said Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson, whose team was within 21-20 at halftime before getting outscored 8-4 in the third quarter. “And we lack leadership on the court. This game, it didn’t look like we were having any fun at all.”
Christina Sandstedt’s putback with two seconds left in the third quarter had Lake Zurich up 29-24. The Bears enjoyed four, 12-point leads in the fourth en route to their fourth win in a row.
Their only loss was a six-point decision to Fremd in the championship game of their own Thanksgiving tournament.
“I think we have a lot of experience and knowledge, we know each other’s strengths, and we use them well against other teams,” Darras said. “We’re all pretty close.”
Darras converted a three-point play early in the fourth to extend the Bears’ lead to 34-24. She wound up hitting 5 of 5 free throws in the quarter.
“She had a very nice game,” Bennett said. “I thought she did a nice job of letting the game come to her, took what they gave her, had some nice penetrations, some nice times when she posted up, played (Nicole) Kruckman tough and did a nice job on defense.”
The 6-foot Kruckman scored 6 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for Libertyville. Eileen Knauff hustled for 6 steals and 6 rebounds (4 offensive). But the Wildcats have split their last six games and travel to Stevenson for another tough test Friday.
“We don’t have the kids like last year who absolutely loved basketball and pushed each other to play to their ability,” Swanson said. “That is something this group is going to have to figure out. If they figure it, they can be very competitive with anybody in our conference.”
When he looks at his own team, Bennett is reminded of last year’s Libertyville’s squad that went undefeated during the regular season.
“I told Kathie before the game that I think we’re like Libertyville’s team last year,” Bennett said. “Senior dominated. A lot of kids that have been playing together since their sophomore year.
“They’re just great kids. As good as they are on the floor right now, they’re just even better kids. They work hard, they come every day to practice, do everything you ask them to do, and I think they’re reaping some of those rewards.”