Libertyville performs with poise to dump Wheeling
Libertyville likes to play under control so it can get on top of its game.
The visiting Wildcats did just that Monday afternoon against the host team in the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic, regaining their composure in time to hold off their scratching, clawing namesakes 65-52 in the opening round. Now they'll meet the tourney's top-seed - Notre Dame - in round two today at 5:30 p.m.
"We kept our poise," said Wildcats coach Scott Bogumil after Wheeling got off to a hot start through a more than competitive first half.
Libertyville (6-3) took Wheeling's best shot, grabbed the lead with an 8-0 run in the second quarter and never relinquished it through a dominant second-half performance.
Switching to a half-court trapping defense disrupted Wheeling's offensive flow and enabled the visiting Wildcats to seize control of the tempo and the game.
"That was a big key," Bogumil said.
Fueling that were point guard Ryan Barth (13 points) controlling the floor game and sophomore forward Luke Mathewson (16) taking charge around the basket. They got help all over the floor from hustling Tyler Schweigert (10) and, off the bench, Hobie Herberger (8).
"He (Barth) makes a lot of good things happen," Bogumil said of his junior point guard.
Wheeling (2-7) ran ahead early thanks to the shooting of junior center Riley Harvey (9 points) and rallied late behind the torrid perimeter shooting of James Barrera (15). But after Meyer's layup off an inbounds play and Herberger's free throw late in the third quarter, Wheeling never got closer than 8 again - despite some hard work off the bench by bookend guards James Miles and Nick Boyd.
"We were worried about their half-court trap. They're so long," in height and reach, said interim coach Matt Mishler, subbing for Lou Wool, who was summoned away because of a death in his family.
Yet, Mishler felt his club made progress.
"Our guys have made huge strides," especially against the trap," Mishler said.
But once Mathewson and Co. took control of the boards against the shorter, host Wildcats in the second half, that spelled the end.
"We controlled the boards in the first half," Mishler said, but not thereafter.
The host Wildcats play Lake Park at 9 a.m. today.