Lake Park withstands Libertyville pressure

Lake Park learned from past mistakes to knock off Libertyville 69-64 in the third-place game of the Wheeling Hardwood Classic.

In a semifinal loss to Niles North the previous night, Lake Park struggled against pressure defense. With Libertyville scrambling on defense to overcome an early deficit, the Lancers moved the ball well and scored inside to secure the victory.

“Once we got the ball past the first trap, then our posts just went to work down low,” said guard Eric Eichholz, who led Lake Park with 16 points. “Yesterday, we played way too fast. Today we slowed it down a little bit and made smart passes, so we got better shots.”

The Lancers (10-4) weren't much taller on the roster, but big men Zack Wagner (15 points), Dominique Spencer (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Zack Cooper (6 boards) controlled the paint.

“Zach Wagner had a big move inside,” Lake Park coach Josh Virostko said. “I thought Spencer played pretty much in control for the most part and Cooper — those guys have been our heart and soul.”

Pressure defense isn't really Libertyville's thing, but the Wildcats had to try something after falling behind by 11 points in the second quarter. Lake Park's lead peaked at 50-37 with 1:42 left in the third quarter.

“We've just got to get back to being a hard-nosed, half-court defensive team,” Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. “I told the team, we were only giving up 49, 50 points until the last two days.”

Before allowing 69 points to Lake Park, the Wildcats (7-6) let Notre Dame score 85 in a semifinal loss. Griffin Pils and Ellis Matthews scored 17 points each to lead Libertyville on Thursday.

Trailing by 13, Matthews finished the third quarter with a 3-pointer, then opened the fourth with 3 free throws. The Wildcats later used an 8-0 run to close within 59-57 with 2:44 left on Matthews' baseline jumper.

Cooper made a strong baseline move to give Lake Park some breathing room. Libertyville got the ball down by 2 with 18.4 seconds left after a missed free throw, but Matthews' 3-point attempt was blocked by Spencer and the Lancers finished the win at the foul line.

“Most publications had us having a rough year, and we still might with our schedule,” Virostko said. “But I think what we did is we earned a little respect being 10-4. It's not stellar. It's not state-ranked. It's just something where we've moving in the right direction and that's all we want to do.”