Trees, Libertyville take Mundelein title from Cary-Grove
It started about a year ago when Libertyville girls basketball coach Kathie Swanson brought Savannah Trees up to the varsity roster when Trees was only a sophomore.
"I told her then that I thought she had a chance to be one of the best guards in the area," Swanson said of Trees. "Now a year later, she is proving that she can be the best in the area."
On her biggest stage to this point in her young career, Trees stood taller than her listed 5-foot-7 frame. In the title game of the Mundelein Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic against unbeaten Cary-Grove, Trees tied for team-high honors with Katelynn Jennings by scoring 14 points. Trees also dished out 8 assists and hauled in 7 rebounds to lift the Wildcats to a 51-45 upset win over the Trojans and the tournament title.
"This definitely feels great," Trees said. "This was a statement game for us to see how we do against a great Cary team. We stacked up pretty good."
When Trees wasn't contributing by scoring for the Wildcats, it was her three key assists during a 9-2 Libertyville run that lifted the Wildcats to a 33-26 lead midway through the third quarter. Her first assist was a nice feed to a wide-open Jennings who buried one of her four 3-pointers on the night.
The last assist during the run was on a feed to Jennings for a layup and a 5-point advantage.
"Everyone just knew where they needed to be," Jennings said. "We were all taking to each other on the floor and giving help to everyone and Savannah was passing the ball so well."
Libertyville (13-4) led by as many as 7 points in the third quarter before the Trojans made a frantic run to cut into the margin. Claire Jakubicek contributed an assist, a layup and free throw to pull Cary-Grove (15-1) within 39-38 with 5:24 to play.
"We had our chances all night long but we just couldn't convert," Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert said. "When you shoot 4-for-22 from 3-point range, you aren't going to get it done and Libertyville is a great team."
Rather than panic, Trees and the Wildcats responded calmly building the lead to its biggest margin of the night at 46-38 with 2:17 to play.
"We talk about it all the time in practice about moving the ball and taking our time," Swanson said. "When we take our time and are not in a hurry, we can run our offense well."
Libertyville had to survive an early onslaught by Cary-Grove in the first quarter as the Trojans broke out to a 14-3 lead with 1:35 left in the period. Jakubicek was big early on despite foul trouble. The junior scored 8 of her game-best 17 points in the first half. "We all knew that this would be a close game tonight because Libertyville is a great team," said Cary-Grove senior Liz Bart, who contributed 8 points. "We got the shots and had some good looks at the basket but we couldn't get things to go our way."