Libertyville pulls off stunning win over rival

Never mind that it's Libertyville-Mundelein.

Senior Hannah Walton's desire to defeat Mundelein on the basketball court is also fueled by the fact the Mustangs beat her Libertyville basketball team three times in as many chances last season.

"They've been our rivals since like sixth grade," Walton said. "I think a lot of us wanted to beat this team more than any other team the entire year."

Done.

In one of the season's first big upsets, Libertyville played near-perfect basketball for more than three quarters and then hung on to stun the host Mustangs 53-50 Saturday night.

It was the first loss of the season for Mundelein (6-1), which was playing its North Suburban Lake Division opener. For Libertyville (4-4, 2-0), the win marked the Wildcats' third straight.

Mind you, they're still playing without Haley Walton (foot) and Maka Stewart (knee).

Kristy Williams scored a team-high 15 points, while Leah Kruckman had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Savannah Trees added 8 points and 5 boards (3 offensive).

The Wildcats shot 18 of 35 (51 percent) from the field.

"It's a matter of confidence," Wildcats coach Kathie Swanson said of her team's improved play.

Libertyville never trailed, building a 13-7 advantage after one quarter and leading 31-21 at halftime.

While the Wildcats shot 12 of 20 from the floor in the first half, with Williams sinking a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 12 points, Mundelein struggled against the visitors' zone.

The Mustangs shot 11 of 46 (24 percent) through three quarters, before going 8 of 16 in the fourth.

Toni Knar scored 7 of her team-best 12 points in the fourth for Mundelein. Oliva Dunigan had 9 points and 9 rebounds, Kelsey O'Connor also scored 9 points, and Jessi Bjerning chipped in 8 points and 8 rebounds coming off the bench.

"We know that they got three very good outside shooters," said Swanson, alluding to Knar, O'Connor and J.J. Sawchuk (6 points). "We tried to take that away, and we did a good job against that. Then we tried to take the inside look away from Dunigan because we know she's a strong inside player with her back to the basket. She got some inside looks against us, though."

Walton was huge from the foul line in the fourth, going 5 of 6 in the final 2:04.

She finished with 5 points and 5 assists.

"That doesn't happen all the time," Walton said of her strong free-throw shooting. "This year I've been really off with my free throws, but we've worked on them a lot in practice and my coach has been helping me."

For as poorly as it shot from the floor (19 of 62), Mundelein had a chance to tie with a 3 in the final seconds, but a traveling violation ended the Mustangs' hopes of a comeback.

"You got to give credit to Libertyville," said coach Brian Evans, whose Mustangs trailed 42-31 early in the fourth. "I told my team after the game, (Libertyville) is playing short-handed and they played with more intensity, enthusiasm and spirit than we did, and they deserved to win. Hats off to them and Kathie Swanson.

"I think I would have been ashamed if we had won that game."