Loyola’s pressure gets to Libertyville, denies Wildcats state trip
For Libertyville, home was where the heart was Monday night.
After beating Rockton Hononegah last Thursday and winning their first sectional championship in 30 years, the Wildcats advanced to the Class 4A girls basketball and faced Loyola on their home floor.
The heart showed early, and it showed late.
In between, it was too much talent, too much intense defensive pressure from the unbeaten Ramblers (36-0), who got it going after falling behind 8-0 early and head downstate to play Fremd after winning 53-44.
“We were super excited,” said senior guard Rachel Rule, who led Libertyville with 19 points. “We knew the first three minutes would be a key toward winning this game. I think we got off to a great start, we were feeling the energy of the crowd, and we got hot.”
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they cooled off.
Trailing 10-9 at the end of the first quarter, Loyola took its first lead early in the second on star guard Aubrey Galvan's layup. Galvan led all scorers with 19 points.
The Ramblers went into halftime with a 22-18 lead.
“They're a very scrappy team,” Rule said. “They press a lot, all the time, and they press really hard. We knew that was coming. They're a great team and they caught us off guard.”
Libertyville started wearing down under the defensive pressure in the third quarter as Loyola upped its lead to 34-25 heading into the fourth.
“We came out with a lot of emotion and fire,” Wildcats coach Greg Pedersen said. “But we also let the kids know Loyola was filled with punch-backs and they were going to retaliate many times during the game. There were a couple punches we took that we never did quite recover from.”
To make matters worse, Libertyville had to play the second half without center Madison Sears, who suffered a lower leg injury.
“I feel terrible for Madison,” Pedersen said. “She's worked so hard to get to where she is. I wish she could have played in the second half. She was devastated.”
The Ramblers kept pressing into the fourth quarter and threatened to blow out the Wildcats when another Galvan basket made it a 41-25 game.
“You have to go through it to really feel it,” Pedersen said of the defensive heat. “You can try to replicate it in practice and we can diagram all we want to on a board. But you have to go out there and do it. It's a lot of work to play against, it's relentless. Hats off to the Loyola kids. They are a really, really talented basketball team.”
So is Libertyville (30-6), which set a school record for most wins in a season.
Behind Rule, the Wildcats made a push down the stretch and forced the Ramblers to call a timeout with 53.6 to play after trimming their lead to 50-42.
“We weren't ready to lose yet,” Rule said. “We weren't done yet. The way we pushed at the end, I'm just so proud.”
In addition to Rule, Lily Fisher scored 10 points and Kate Rule added 8.
“We knew they were going to go on runs,” said Fisher, a standout freshman. “I wish we could have responded a little bit better, but they're a really good team. We didn't get the win, but I'm so proud.”