Boys basketball: Libertyville starts, finishes strong vs. Vernon Hills
It took a long time for the Libertyville boys basketball team to pull away from visiting Vernon Hills Thursday night in a hard-fought nonconference game.
But with the aid of a couple of late 3-pointers by senior guard Trevor Wallace the Wildcats did just that. They outscored the Cougars 16-6 en route to a 58-43 victory as three players reached double figures in scoring.
Vernon Hills (7-2) trailed 17-12 after one quarter, 31-26 at halftime, and 42-37 after three quarters as the teams played to a 25-25 deadlock during the second and third quarters.
A driving basket by 6-foot-5 junior Daniel Odhiambo (team-high 16 points) cut the Wildcats' lead to 42-39 with 7:07 to play.
But with the aid of 5 turnovers by the Cougars in the final quarter, Libertyville (5-3) finally took command of the contest. Sophomore Nick Baker (14 points) and senior teammate Bryce Wegrzyn (game-high 17 points) scored 4 points apiece to boost the lead to 50-39 with 4:44 remaining.
Wallace (15 points, 5-for-6 on 3-pointers) hit his fourth 3-pointer for a 53-39 lead before his fifth 3-pointer gave the Wildcats their biggest lead at 56-41 with 3:40 to go.
"I felt great in warmups. My shot has been off the past couple of games, but tonight I really found it and I hope I can keep that going strong," said Wallace, who had 9 points in the first half. "Definitely our halftime talk we weren't playing up to our expectations, and after the third quarter we knew this was our game to run away with and that's what we did."
Junior Brady Larsen had a solid game for Vernon Hills with 12 points while teammate Nico Robles scored 6 points on two 3-pointers. Libertyville's Jack Cenar had 7 points while teammate Ben Kristopher chipped in 5 points.
The Cougars struggled by shooting just 4-for-10 from the free-throw line.
"We knew we were going to get a challenge tonight, and in the second half we were more poised, we took care of the basketball, and Trevor Wallace down the stretch hit a couple of big 3's," said Libertyville coach Brian Zyrkowski, whose team only trailed briefly early in the first quarter.
"Bryce Wegrzyn made his free throws (4-for-4 in fourth quarter), and it was a big game from our sophomore guard tonight (Baker). I thought in the second half he took control of that game for us by making good decisions and having a couple of good finishes."
Odhiambo had a big dunk early in the third quarter, but he had another dunk negated due to an offensive foul as he, Larsen, and Wegrzyn had some foul trouble in the second half.
"Wallace got hot, he made some tough 3s, and he was kind of the kid that broke our back there so you've got to give Libertyville credit," said Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty, whose team hosts Maine West Friday in CSL North play.
"Obviously taking care of the ball is an important aspect, and some of those turnovers were turnovers for layups at the other end for them. We were playing about as physical as we could play, and Larsen ended up with 12 points but he was in foul trouble all night."