Ryan, Libertyville still flyin’
A buzzer-beating layup at halftime had Dan Ryan on pace for a “Call Ripley’s” second half.
Libertyville’s 5-foot-7, bearded, high-energy reserve guard didn’t quite score 960 points after halftime, mind you.
But talk about a productive first half for Ryan during the Wildcats’ North Suburban Lake Division-opening, 47-33 win over visiting Zion-Benton on Tuesday night.
The victory kept Libertyville perfect at 6-0, while dropping Zion-Benton to 0-2 in the NSC Lake.
“It’s big for us because in past years we’ve never really started that well,” said Wildcats guard Griffin Pils, who scored a game-high 19 points. “We’re playing together.”
And discovering new heroes every night.
Take Ryan, who typically doesn’t play much.
“I’m definitely not the most skilled,” Ryan said with a laugh. “Coach is always talking about knowing your role on the team, and my role is to bring energy whenever I can bring it.”
He delivered just that at the end of the first half against Zion-Benton.
With the Zee-Bees inbounding the ball at half-court with 2.2 seconds on the clock and trailing 23-20, Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil signaled to Ryan and fellow reserve guard Scott Johns to quickly check into the game.
Both players ripped off their sweats and hustled onto the court. (Neither had played a second yet).
Ryan and Johns were prepared to foul, since Libertyville had one to give.
Instead, Ryan swatted at the inbounds pass, came up with the steal and dribbled as fast as he could toward the Z-B basket. He floated up a running layup that dropped in, just beating the buzzer.
“He said go for the ball and see what happens,” Ryan said of Bogumil. “(Zion-Benton) threw the ball, I took it and I was just trying to beat the clock.”
Ryan — 2 points in 2 seconds of playing time — and his teammates celebrated wildly, bouncing and cheering.
Zion-Benton walked off the court, stunned.
“I really thought that momentum carried over (into the second half),” Bogumil said. “I saw (Zion-Benton) hanging their heads as they were walking off the floor. They were like, ‘What happened?’ I thought that was a big turning point.”
Energized by Mr. Energy himself, Libertyville fed off the emotion Ryan provided with his steal and layup. The Wildcats outscored the visitors 18-5 in the third quarter, with Pils sinking two 3-pointers and scoring 10 points.
“(Ryan’s play) was big because it was a close, hard fight and then when he hit that layup, they went down,” Pils said. “(The game) just turned from there.”
The only other playing time Ryan got was at the end of the third quarter. He played 24 seconds and didn’t score.
Not that he sat quietly on the bench.
Ryan chest-bumps Libertyville’s starters during starting-lineup introductions, fires up the bench during timeouts and is often out of his chair.
“He’s our emotional guy and a fan favorite, too,” Bogumil said. “He’s a coach on the floor, he’s a coach in the locker room, and he’s a coach on the bench. He’s a great team guy.”
And ready to play whenever needed.
“I don’t know how many times as a coach you say, ‘If I only give you a couple of seconds, that can turn the game,’ ” Bogumil said. “That (play at the end of the half) is a perfect example.”
“I try to make the most of my time when I get out there,” Ryan said.
Anthony Mack added 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals for Libertyville. Ellis Matthews, back after missing a game with illness, scored 8 points, and Luke Mathewson grabbed 6 rebounds.
Zion-Benton sophomore star Malik Yarbrough had only 6 points and 6 rebounds. He had 5 points, including a 3, in the first quarter but missed all 5 of his shots in the second and third quarters and didn’t play in the fourth. Niko Paaloalo had 8 points and 13 rebounds for the Zee-Bees.
“In the second half, defensively, we clamped down on them,” Bogumil said. “We didn’t give them a lot of good looks.”