Reed helps Libertyville advance

The last time Libertyville and Highland Park met, it was out of state, as in the Bradley Center in Wisconsin. And that time, the Giants edged out the Wildcats.

The next meeting of these clubs will take place on Libertyville's home floor Tuesday night.

And the Giants' zone defense better beware of No. 3 in the Wildcats uniform.

That Matt Reed fellow is an official zone-buster.

In Monday night's meeting of Libertyville-Mundelein, it was Reed's 3-point shooting that spelled doom for Mundelein. The senior notched seven 3-pointers on the way to a career-best 31 points. Libertyville was on a pace to score 100 points after the first quarter and really didn't fall far short in a 91-66 romp in the opening session of the Class 4A Libertyville regional.

"It was one of those nights," Reed said. "The hoop looked three times bigger than it normally does."

Undersized Mundelein (2-28) did its best in the early going. And getting two quick fouls on 6-foot-10 Joe Borcia was seemingly a good thing for the visitors.

And Reed went into his long-distance act.

"He really was on fire tonight,'' said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. "He was shooting really well."

Reed closed the first quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and the Cats were up 25-13. Mundelein did not give up from here. Getting a strong game from J.T. Michalski (21 points), this game was still in reach at 38-27 at halftime.

"They took advantage of their size," said Mundelein coach Corey Knigge. "But I'm proud of my four seniors. They could have packed it in but they played hard despite our record."

Borcia, survived early foul trouble and poured in 14 points for the winners.

With the win, the Wildcats moved to 15-12 on the campaign.