Rule sisters lead Libertyville’s 3-point barrage in defeat of Lake Zurich

It was expected to be a pretty close game when host Libertyville met Lake Zurich in a battle of two of the top girls basketball teams in the North Suburban Conference on Wednesday night.

But the Wildcats had other plans. The Bears were never really in the contest from the outset trailing 14-6 after one quarter, 25-12 at halftime, and 48-28 after three quarters because Libertyville displayed some great shooting from 3-point range.

Also a big factor was Libertyville twin sisters Kate and Rachel Rule, who combined for seven of the Wildcats' 10 3-pointers overall. Libertyville wound up cruising to a 58-39 NSC victory to improve to 18-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference. Stevenson remains at the top of the NSC standings with an 8-0 record.

Senior Kate Rule had 11 of her team-high 16 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers while Rachel Rule had 15 points, including four 3-pointers. Lake Zurich (12-11, 7-2) could not match the Wildcats' long-range shooting with only two 3s overall.

"The 3-pointers brought a lot of energy. We did a good job of finding the open girl and penetrating their man defense, which is always stellar," Kate Rule said. "It's a good bounce back from Stevenson (loss), it's good to get back on a roll, especially heading into February. We're really excited for the rest of the season, and this is a great win for us against a good team."

Libertyville went on a 10-point run late in the first quarter to set the tone for the entire game before Kate Rule's second 3-pointer gave the Wildcats their biggest lead at 31-12 early in the third quarter. Rachel Rule's 3-pointer extended the lead to 36-17 with 5:48 left in the third quarter.

"We struggled to take care of the basketball and it snowballed on us," said Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett, whose team was outscored 23-16 in a fast-paced third quarter. "They shot the lights out, there's no doubt about that, and they're a nice basketball team."

The Bears were led by Molly Friesen with a team-high 16 points and teammate Anna Gilbertson with 13 points. Madison Sears hit double figures with 11 points for the Wildcats while teammate Elinor Lindal hit two 3-pointers.

"We've got kids who can shoot it for sure and today things were just clicking," said Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen. "We knew we would have to shoot well to beat this team because they're big and they're aggressive. We took open shots when we had them because they don't let us open very often."