Girls basketball: Libertyville starts fast, finishes strong to earn spot in sectional final

Starting fast and staving off any Hononegah run.

That was the recipe Libertyville used to post a 47-36 win over Hononegah in the Class 4A Huntley sectional semifinals Tuesday night.

Libertyville (28-5) will play host Huntley (34-0) for the sectional championship Thursday at 6 p.m. Huntley edged Lake Zurich 39-37 in the first semifinal.

Propelled by 6 points each by Lily Fisher and Ellnor Lindal, the Wildcats got off to a 12-5 lead with 2:34 left in the initial quarter.

Libertyville led 18-11 after one quarter.

Leading 24-13 at halftime, the Wildcats started the second half on 10-2 run and led 34-15 with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

The Indians didn't give up and ended the third quarter on a 13-0 run courtesy of two 3-pointers from Jordan Dimke and were only down 33-28 after three quarters.

"We went a long time without scoring," said Libertville coach Greg Pedersen. “But, we kept our poise and bounced back. We saw on tape they could make shots and weren't out of the game.”

The Wildcats extended their lead to 41-34 with 3:23 left on a layup by Fisher, who scored 5 points in the final minute to secure the win for the Cats.

"They were making shots and we knew they weren't going to give up," said Fisher. "We kept our poise at the end and got the win."

Fisher scored 16 points and Lindal tallied 14 for the winners.

"They have been our leaders all year long," said Pedersen. “They came through tonight."

Dimke led the Indians with 16.

Pedersen is looking forward to the challenge of playing undefeated Huntley.

"Huntley is an amazing team," said Pedersen. “They have no weakness. We are appreciative of the challenge."