Libertyville cruises to sectional title game; LZ’s upset bid falls just short

Sectional semifinal smiles from junior Madison Sears and her teammates were a welcome sight from a Libertyville girls basketball team.

They replaced a long run of season-ending long faces at this stage that extended well before the current Wildcats were born. But they also experienced that disappointment of sectional semifinal losses the last two seasons.

That was never a concern in Tuesday evening's first Class 4A McHenry sectional semifinal. Libertyville (29-5) scored 22 of the first 24 points and tied the school record for victories in a 57-24 rout of Rockford Guilford (20-13).

“It's so amazing and it's the best feeling,” the 6-foot-2 Sears said after scoring all of her game-high 17 points in the first half. “I wouldn't want to do it with anybody else. This game was a lot of fun.”

Libertyville now heads to a sectional championship game for the first time since 1996 and will try to win its sixth sectional and first since 1994 at 7 p.m. Thursday. It faces Rockton Hononegah (30-4), which survived an upset bid from Lake Zurich (19-14) in the second semifinal 44-42.

Kate Rule had all 9 of her points in the first quarter and Lily Fisher and Elinor Lindal had 8 points apiece as the Wildcats led 50-8 with 1:17 left in the third quarter. They matched the 29 wins of the team a year ago and in 2010-11.

“The kids played well and they were energized,” said Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen. “We had a couple who weren't feeling so well, and we have a bit of a bug going around, but you couldn't tell it on the floor. I'm really proud of all of them and Madison was a force today.”

Sears was 7-for-9 from the field in the first half and finished with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.

“Our guards did a good job of, what do the kids say, letting her eat,” Pedersen said with a laugh.

“I love posting up and love getting in there,” Sears said. “My teammates were giving me great passes. I couldn't have done it without them.”

Libertyville shot 47.6% from the field (20-for-42) and 15-for-18 on free throws. Guilford, which was making its third consecutive sectional appearance, missed 31 of its first 33 shots from the field before going 6-for-10 in the final 8:07.

“We have so many different people who can make plays,” Sears said. “Just the diversity of the team is a big part of why we're so successful.”

Hononegah 44, Lake Zurich 42:

Lake Zurich kept digging and digging to get out of 13- and 12-point holes in the second half.

It looked like the Bears might be rewarded with a trip to the sectional championship game when they took a 2-point lead into the final minute.

But Hononegah sophomore Jordan Dimke (19 points, 6 rebounds) hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds left and it held on as Lake Zurich sophomore Layne Nordstrom's heave just before the midcourt line at the buzzer banged off the back rim.

“I'm proud of them,” said LZ coach Chris Bennett of his team overcoming 27-14 and 36-24 deficits. “They battled back and we finally got after it a little bit in the third quarter. But it's hard to make it up when you're down 13. It's too much energy to expend.”

Anna Gilbertson (14 points, 5 rebounds), the only senior on the Lake Zurich roster, scored the last 7 of a 10-point run and her steal and layup tied it at 38-38 at 3:10. Hononegah's Jordan Johnston countered with a drive at 2:43.

But a beautiful drive and dish by junior Molly Friesen (11 points) to sophomore Leah Gilbertson for a layup tied it at 2:10. After a defensive stop, junior Avery Cooper (11 points, 9 rebounds) scored on a short drive off Nordstrom's inbound to put the Bears up 42-40 at 1:08.

Hononegah senior guard Olivia Robinson (8 points) drove toward the basket and kicked the ball out to Dimke as she hit her third 3 in as many attempts.

“That was one of our designed sets,” said Hononegah coach Jason Brunke, whose team was 9-for-16 on 3s. “The girls did an incredible job of executing and staying focused.

“They found a way to regroup and that speaks a lot to our senior leadership.”

Gilbertson missed a 15-footer with less than 10 seconds left. Hononegah got the ball and Williams hit the second of 2 free throws with 2.5 seconds left before Lake Zurich nearly extended its season.

“The game typified a lot of what we did throughout the year,” Bennett said of his team that started 0-4 but won 7 of its last 9 against a brutal schedule, “from the standpoint there were some really good moments and moments where we really struggled.”