Libertyville stays hot, doubles up Lake Zurich

After losing to Libertyville by 20 points on the road on Jan. 17, host Lake Zurich was hoping to put together a better showing against the Wildcats in North Suburban Conference girls basketball action Tuesday night.

But there would be no such luck for the Bears as Libertyville (23-4, 11-2) never let its guard down by building a commanding 37-20 lead after three quarters before rolling to an easy 48-24 NSC victory.

The contest was close for the first quarter and a half as Lake Zurich (15-13, 9-4) held a 12-9 lead before a 3-pointer by Libertyville's Elinor Lindal (9 points) tied the score at 12-12 with 4:15 left in the first half.

The Wildcats kept that momentum going as a fastbreak basket by Madison Sears (game-high 16 points) capped a 13-point run. Lake Zurich's Avery Cooper (team-high 9 points) hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 22-15 at halftime.

But that was as close as Lake Zurich would get as a 3-point play by Avery Maddux gave Libertyville its biggest lead at 34-17 with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

"I think it was a good performance all around. We know this team really well, we scout them and I feel like today we played as a team," said Sears. "I've played with many of the girls on this team on my AAU team. They have a big inside presence so I think taking away their inside presence was a big key to winning."

After outscoring Lake Zurich 15-5 in the third quarter, a 3-pointer by freshman Lily Fisher (7 points) and two baskets by Sears made the score 48-22 with 2:46 to play.

Rachel Rule had 10 points for Libertyville while Anna Gilbertson and Alex Nowak-Tice scored 4 points each for the Bears.

"We were motivated to play, and we were excited to play Lake Zurich because we knew they would bring their A game," said Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen, whose team clinched second place in the NSC. "Madison (Sears) really made a difference. I think she was 6-for-7 from the short corner, and her teammates kept finding her in space."

Cold shooting from the field and numerous turnovers spelled doom for Lake Zurich.

"They gave us one little run in the second quarter, it snowballed from there, and sometimes we struggle to get it back after things go south," said Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett. "Libertyville played well. They have a very active 2-3 zone that we struggled with, and it's hard to win games when you score 24 points."