Libertyville wins third straight NSC title

Logos of the seven North Suburban Lake Division schools decorate a wall on one side of his girls basketball team’s gym, and they all caught the eye of Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner.

“Every night they’re playing somebody really, really aggressive and intense,” Brettner, glancing at the ‘NSC Lake’ wall, said of Libertyville. “I knew that might be a bit of a difference. I was hoping that we’d be able to adjust quickly.”

The Cougars didn’t.

And like every North Suburban Prairie Division team that has played in the conference championship game that started in 2001, they eventually hit the wall.

Behind senior guard Alex Haley’s game-high 20 points and a typical defensive effort, Libertyville knocked off Vernon Hills 47-32 to capture its third straight NSC title Wednesday night.

“I’m really proud of my kids,” said coach Kathie Swanson, whose Wildcats (21-6) won their fifth in a row. “I don’t think too many people expected us to be here tonight. To see where we came from back in November, to where we are today, it’s just been tremendous improvement. The team has grown together all throughout the season.”

Haley and senior center Nicole Kruckman have been starters on all three championship teams.

“All three years we’ve had unbelievable chemistry,” Haley said. “Everyone is a threat on the court. We have people who can go the basket, shoot. It’s not just one star player who’s leading the team. It’s a bunch of people who can all score, who can all play defense.”

The Wildcats demonstrated both their ability to score and defend early against Vernon Hills (21-5), which was playing in its first NSC championship game.

A putback by senior forward Kerry Risley, 2 free throws by senior guard Eileen Knauff and a floater in the lane by Haley made up a 6-0 run that put Libertyville up 14-7. When Haley drained a left-corner 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the opening quarter, the Wildcats were up 17-9.

“You could tell that the intensity of the game is at a little different level for Libertyville than it is for Vernon Hills,” Brettner said. “They were getting after it, and we were kind of on our heels early. We got behind and nothing was going well.”

All was going right for the sharpshooting Haley. She had 9 points in the opening quarter and 7 more, including another 3, in the second to help Libertyville take a 30-15 lead into halftime.

“I’ve been in the situation before so I knew how to handle it,” Haley said. “My teammates were getting me the ball and I was just being aggressive, attacking the basket, and my shot was falling. I just tried to tune the crowd out and play with my teammates out there, and not let the pressure get to me.”

Haley had plenty of help from her teammates. Alina Lehocky’s layup with a minute left in the third quarter pulled Vernon Hills within 35-29, but Kruckman scored in the lane, and Molly Moon tracked down an errant inbounds pass and scored to make it 39-29 heading into the fourth.

Risley scored 6 straight points in the fourth, as the Wildcats pulled away.

Cougars center Meri Bennett-Swanson, who scored a team-high 8 points, was impressed.

“They push the ball, they have a tempo that they are very comfortable with, and I feel that they have offensive unity,” Bennett-Swanson said. “They know what they’re going to do. There’s a fluidity in their play.”

“They take us out of everything we try to do man to man,” Brettner said. “We can’t run a set because we can’t get a ball into a wing feed. They take our vision away from anybody bringing the ball up. They fight through screens really well, and they just overall play really, really good man-to-man defense. They move their feet real well, and they’re physical.”

Risley and Knauff each scored 8 points for Libertyville, with the 5-foot-6 Knauff also hustling for 10 rebounds. Olivia Mayer contributed 3 steals.

While Haley also held Cougars sophomore Sydney Smith to 5 points, Kruckman had 5 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and took a charge.

“(Haley and Kruckman) were the leaders on the floor,” Swanson said of her two three-year starters. “That was great to see.”