Girls basketball: Libertyville’s Fisher elevates her game, earns Lake County All-Area captain

Numbers have a tendency to speak for themselves.

In the case of Libertyville junior girls basketball standout Lily Fisher, they speak loudly — so much so that others reference them when talking about her elite play.

“Lily Fisher was so hard to contain,” said Glenbrook South coach Scott Nemecek, whose team lost 60-46 to Libertyville this season. “Regardless of what we tried to do defensively, and we tried several strategies, she was able to go 2-for-4 from 3, 9-for-15 from 2 and 10-for-11 on free throws. We were hoping to keep her under 20 points and she ended up with 34. We were not able to stop Lily Fisher.”

“Lily is asked to be the primary ball handler on her team,” said Maine South coach Jeff Hamann, whose Hawks squad beat the Wildcats early in the season 46-29 and then lost 59-49 at home in early February. “She has really improved her ability to make her teammates better. In the second game we played against Libertyville, she had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. To me, that shows she is willing to do anything it takes for her team to be successful.”

The 6-foot-1 Fisher, an IBCA Class 4A all-state first-team pick with NCAA Division I pursuit form the likes of Marquette, DePaul, Nebraska, Wisconsin, UIC, Loyola and Milwaukee, indeed played a big role in Libertyville going 27-7, winning the North Suburban Conference title with a 13-1 record and reaching a Class 4A sectional championship game.

Her efforts also make her the captain of the 2025-2026 Daily Herald Lake County All-Area girls basketball team — three years after older sister, Emily, now a junior on the University of Nebraska women’s basketball team after transferring from Maryland, enjoyed the same honor.

“She never gives up,” Libertyville senior guard Ella Pawelczyk said. “Truly, no player can really stop Lily. It takes a whole team to try to stop her attacks. She does really well with not letting that phase her. Every game, teams work to stop Lily Fisher and yet she always comes out ready to attack, ready to shoot and ready to do whatever it takes to play through the tough defense. I have always admired her ability to not get frustrated when three players are trying to stop her.”

Fisher’s key role with the Wildcats was heightened even further when the team lost 3 of its projected top 7 players to injury, including returning all-NSC point guard Sophia Swanson.

“That’s when kids looked around at each other and really wondered if we were snake-bit this season,” Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen recalled after freshman Nellie Dajka was injured just prior to opening night against Hersey, upping the MASH count to 3 before the season-opening tip.

“But, Lily was a strong leader for all these kids who had to step up and grab playing time. She was a steadying influence on freshman Addie Casey, for example. I was most amazed by her refusal to take a night off. Not in the aspect of sitting out, but in her approach to every game we played this year. She prepared well all season and brought it each night. The team needed that from her with so many new players getting playing time (including new starting lineup occupants in center Elle Knight, Casey and guard KateRyan Castro).”

Playing point guard this season, Fisher, the North Suburban player of the year for a second year in a row, averaged 19.8 points (way up from 12.5 last season), 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.9 steals. She shot .429 from the field, hit 41 threes and also had a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. One Lake County-area statistically minded coach mentioned the player efficiency rating (PER) that takes into account positives such as points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks, as well as negatives such as missed shots, turnovers and fouls, and noted the average is 1.0 and Fisher was at a 1.64 for their game against Libertyville.

Equally impressive, Fisher was the queen of drawing contact, going to the foul line 208 times and shooting .678 there.

“Lily draws contact,” Pedersen said. “She doesn’t shy away from it. She has tremendous body control. Because she’s so skilled and dangerous, she faces tight defenses all the time and tight defenses lead to shooting fouls when she attacked to score.”

Walking down memory lane this season, Pedersen pointed out Fisher had 22 points and 13 rebounds in the sectional final against Carmel Catholic, 18 points and 12 rebounds against Huntley in the sectional semifinals, the aforementioned near triple-double against Maine South, 29 and 10 against Waukegan, 14 and 11 against Mundelein and 32 and 14 against Prospect in Mt. Prospect.

“She really brought her best out against the best competition,” Pedersen said.

“Lily’s confidence is contagious and her teammates emulate the edge and competitiveness she plays with,” Stevenson coach Regan Carmichael said. “When we prepared for Libertyville, our primary focus centered around her. She carries a significant load offensively and plays with a fearlessness that shows up, especially against high-level competition.”

Fisher, who is 22 points from breaking her sister Emily’s all-time Libertyville scoring record (1,339 points), didn’t mind the added scrutiny/pressure that appeared this season.

“Maybe a little bit of pressure,” said Fisher, who is already the program’s career leader in steals and set single-season marks this year for most points (654) and blocks (45). “I have played in big moments and big games that made it easier to transition into that. I had to step up a little more and have more of an impact all over the board, not just on offense and defense, but getting teammates involved as well.”

Fisher said a combination of offseason work and natural maturing contributed to the masterpiece she turned in.

“The work I put in made me a shooting threat all over instead of just getting into the paint,” she said. “That was a big improvement. My confidence definitely went up. I felt like I had the green light to shoot and had the confidence to do it, so that was a definite upgrade. I usually rise to the situation and feel like it’s fun to be in those moments.”

Huntley coach Steve Raethz, who recently announced his coaching retirement after more than 500 wins, 4 sectional titles and a fourth-place 2013 state finish over a fabulous two-plus-decade run at the helm in southern McHenry County, got a front-row seat for Fisher during the sectional semifinal matchup a few weeks back.

“Lily improved her game this year and is a 3-level scoring threat,” he said. “She is excellent with finishing at the basket and is able to score midrange and improved her 3-point shooting. She is excellent with attacking off the dribble and changes speeds effectively. She reads the defense very well and facilitates well and finds open teammates and is a willing passer. Lily rebounds it well and also guards well on the defensive end.”

Knight, Libertyville’s 6-1 junior forward, is grateful for the guidance and leadership Fisher brings to the team. “Lily knows how to make a room fun while keeping us focused,” she said. “As a teammate, she’s someone who will hold you accountable for your mistakes and shows people it’s OK to make mistakes, but you can’t stop just because one basket didn’t go your way.”

Pedersen had even higher praise.

“Lily’s effort is unmatched,” he said. “I thought this year marked a significant shift in Lily assuming leadership, wanting to be a voice in the locker room, wanting to have the ball with 10 seconds left. She’s college ready now.”