Libertyville clinches 1st NSC Lake Division title
The drought is over.
Libertyville's girls basketball team made history Saturday, as the Wildcats clinched their first North Suburban Conference Lake Division championship by defeating host Lake Forest 50-46.
Libertyville (22-5, 10-2), which finished a game ahead of Zion-Benton, will travel to Wauconda for the conference championship Wednesday night. If Libertyville had lost, the Wildcats would have won the tiebreaker with Zion-Benton.
Up 22-18 at halftime, Libertyville extended its cushion to 36-26 by the end of the third quarter.
But Lake Forest kept chipping away at its deficit and got within 42-41 midway through the fourth.
Still clinging to a one-point lead at 44-43, Libertyville got a layup from Savannah Trees (10 points) before Kateynn Jennings (10 points, two 3-pointers) sank two foul shots.
After the Scouts lost Caelan Rottman (11 points) to her fifth foul, Libertyville built its lead to seven. The Scouts' Megan Moore brought the home crowd to its feet by making a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
"Lake Forest kept giving us a hard time," said coach Kathie Swanson, whose Wildcats won for the 16th time in their last 17 games. "But at the same time, we kept making some silly decisions and we didn't do the job boxing out, which gave them second opportunities."
Libertyville sophomore Alex Haley led all scorers with 14 points.
"I think we did a good job of moving the ball," Haley said. "But then we had some silly fouls, which allowed them to come back. But it's a good thing we pulled it all together at the end."
Lake Forest fell to 14-13 and finished 4-8 in the NSC Lake.
"The difference was (Libertyville) getting offensive rebounds," Scouts coach Nick Balaban said. "We defended very well, but when the shot went up, they came up with the rebound, which really hurt us. Every time we had a chance to grab the lead early in the first half, it was an offensive rebound that propelled them."
Senior Jordan Majka led the Scouts with 12 points.
Before the game, Lake Forest honored seniors Majka, Megan Moore, Kristen Borrasso, Claire DiMario and Christine Menzies.
"Senior Night to me means winning for your school and showing pride in your school," Majka said. "We tried hard to come back, but we just couldn't get it done."