Girls basketball: Libertyville’s late run sinks Lake Zurich

An early season North Suburban Conference girls basketball showdown wound up going down to the wire Friday night between host Libertyville and Lake Zurich.

The contest seesawed back and forth the entire way with the Wildcats (8-2, 4-0) holding a 20-12 halftime lead only to see the Bears (5-5, 3-1) outscore them 17-8 in the third quarter to take a 29-28 lead into the final period.

But seven turnovers in the fourth quarter spelled doom for Lake Zurich as Libertyville went on a late 8-0 run en route to a 38-33 NSC victory.

A driving basket by the Bears' Leah Gilbertson (team-high 16 points) gave Lake Zurich a 33-30 lead with 3:45 to play. But Libertyville sophomore guard Jenna Stowe came alive down the stretch as her 3-pointer deadlocked the score at 33-33 with 2:27 remaining.

Then Stowe (all 7 points in final quarter) hit another 3-pointer for a 36-33 lead with 2:09 to go before she added a free throw to make the score 37-33 with 1:09 left.

Junior Lily Fisher (14 of game-high 17 points in first half) added a free throw to boost the lead to 38-33 with 48 seconds to play as neither team scored the rest of the way.

"Jenna (Stowe) hit some really big shots that we really needed because we were in a little drought so I feel like that really got us the momentum," said Fisher. "We just got a couple of stops and turnovers and I feel like we handled ourselves really well at the end."

The Bears bolted ahead to an early 7-0 lead, but the Wildcats bounced right back by going on a 16-point run to take a 16-7 lead on a steal and basket by Fisher with 3:38 left in the second quarter.

Down 21-12 early in the third quarter, Lake Zurich went on a 17-5 run to take a 29-26 lead on two free throws by Layne Nordstrom late in the period.

Junior Kaitlin Wahlund scored 8 points for the Bears while Charlotte Harrison and Elle Knight (7 rebounds) scored 4 points apiece for Libertyville.

"We've been battle-tested with some tough competition early in the season which is why we do the tough schedule, and Jenna (Stowe) knocked down some big shots in the fourth quarter," said Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen. "And they're just a resilient group. We've experienced a bunch of injuries, but new kids are stepping up and they keep fighting that's for sure."

Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett was both pleased and somewhat disappointed with his team's up and down performance in the game.

"I like how we responded in the third quarter, but in the fourth quarter we went back to playing how we played in the second quarter," said Bennett, whose team was outscored 23-9 in the second and fourth quarters. "Leah (Gilbertson) has been battling sickness after missing our game on Wednesday night. And we had our chances, but Libertyville played better in the end."