Zion-Benton takes Libertyville's best shot, prevails in OT
Several times this season, determination has helped Libertyville's girls basketball team pull out victories.
On Tuesday night, the Wildcats were at it again, clawing their way back after trailing by 13 points by hitting multiple 3-pointers in the final quarter as Riley Weis, Maggie Piazzi and Claire Keefe led the charge to the game and force overtime.
There, however, these Wildcats ran out of lives.
Zion-Benton withstood the pressure and pulled out a 57-52 OT victory in North Suburban Lake play in Libertyville.
"It was a big step for us," Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said. "We can shoot it up. The first half of the season, the 3s were not going down at all. It was disappointing, because we've got shooters that were on varsity last year. Coming into this year, we thought it was an integral part of this team. Just to see these kids coming through now and knocking these shots home, it will be tough for others to play us in the second half of the season.
"It did take a focused effort and a strong physical effort (to come back against Zion-Benton). It took ball movement and sharing the ball. We found the right people at the right time. When Zion-Benton went to sag, we had other kids step up."
Keefe led the Wildcats (11-10, 5-5) with a team-high 16 points and 9 rebounds along with 4 blocked shots and a couple of steals. Weis added 11 and Piazzi chipped in with 9 and 4 boards.
Weis dropped down three of the five fourth-quarter treys for Libertyville, including the game-tying 3 that capped a 21-8 final quarter, making the score 47-47 with 55 seconds remaining.
"I felt like I needed to step up for my team," Weis said. "Honestly, I was feeling the adrenaline and I wanted it so bad."
Both teams had a chance to take the lead in in regulation but both couldn't make a shot to take the lead.
The Zee-Bees (15-7, 7-2) opened the OT with four straight points. Marquitta Easley (15 points) hit a short jump shot to make it 51-47 with 2:45 left.
Erin Dunleavy rallied the Wildcats again by dropping in a 3, and Piazzi followed by hitting 2 free throws to put Libertyville ahead 52-51 with 1:20 left.
But Zion-Benton scored the next 6 points to close it out.
Krystal Walker led the Zee-Bees with 17 points and Ledallia Meggett added 16.
Zion-Benton can still hope for a tie for the Lake Division title with three games remaining.
"Our kids hung in there," said Zion-Benton coach Tanya Johnson, who celebrated her birthday Monday and won her 704th victory in 31 years of coaching. "It's a win, a great confidence win against a competitive Libertyville team. It was gutzy and we pulled it out.
"Libertyville was focused on getting the ball inside. We had the wrong people helping out. Libertyville has shooters and we slipped. It was a game that we could've lost. Both teams played really hard."