Libertyville's shooters deliver in OT win over Notre Dame
Libertyville's basketball shooter sank clutch shots.
And so did one of the Wildcats' other shooters.
Josh Steinhaus poured in career highs of 28 points and seven 3-pointers to lead Libertyville to a 55-52 win over Notre Dame in a consolation-bracket semifinal game of the 41st annual Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic on Friday. The game would have never gotten to the extra session, however, if not for Jackson Watson's 3-of-3 showing from the stripe down the stretch.
Libertyville's second win in as many days earned the Wildcats (6-7, 2-1 tournament) a spot in Saturday's 5:30 p.m. game against Maine West for the championship of the consolation bracket.
"That was huge," Watson said of the win. "We beat a good team. We needed that one."
Libertyville needed Watson's free throws.
Notre Dame (7-7, 1-2) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and didn't grab its first lead until guard Anthony Sayles (team-high 16 points) sank a pair of free throws with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter. Sayles' 3-pointer with 2:14 to go broke a 40-40 tie.
Three Libertyville timeouts later, Watson was fouled while missing a 3-pointer with 11.5 seconds left. The 6-foot-1 junior guard swished all 3 foul shots, the last of which came after Notre Dame attempted to ice him by calling a timeout.
"I was definitely nervous, but that's stuff I do every day," said Watson, whose only other points came on a 3-pointer to open the second-half scoring. "It's just muscle memory."
Wildcats coach Brian Zyrkowski had total confidence in Watson.
"Jackson's a shooter," Zyrkowski said. "At one point in the game, I told him, 'I'm taking you out if you stop shooting.' He gave me a little smirk. The next time down, he hit a big 3 in the corner."
Notre Dame missed a runner at the buzzer and then in overtime fell behind by as many as five points. Steinhaus' seventh 3 with 3:33 to go gave Libertyville the lead for good at 46-45. The senior point guard hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 38 seconds to secure the victory.
Sayles' half-court shot at the buzzer hit the front of the rim before the Wildcats could celebrate.
"We've been struggling a lot," said Steinhaus, who had a 27-point game against Stevenson in early December. "I think when guys don't get going offensively, we take it out on defense and don't give it our all. Today we focused on just passing it and moving it. Everybody was touching the ball, and we had a lot more energy defensively."
Steinhaus, who shot 8 of 15 from the floor, hit three 3-pointers in the opening quarter. Two were from several feet behind the arc.
"My coaches give me the confidence to shoot that," Steinhaus said. "I wouldn't shoot it unless they approved."
Zyrkowski approves.
"Part of Josh's workouts are shooting that far out," Zyrkowski said. "He has the green light to shoot from anywhere on the floor. His confidence has just skyrocketed. What was great about today's game was the ball moved and teammates found him. In prior games, we've relied on him to create his own."
Patrick Graham added 7 points and 6 rebounds for Libertyville, while Brian Wilterdink had 6 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Watson had 4 assists, as well.
"Coming into today's game, we talked about coming out strong and confident," Zyrkowski said. "We have guys that can knock the shots down, we have guys that can rebound and play good defense, and today you saw it. Their energy was the difference maker."
Notre Dame 6-6 sophomore Troy D'Amico had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Aidan Heraty scored 12 points (four 3-pointers) coming off the bench for the Dons, who wrap up the tournament at 2 p.m. Saturday against Buffalo Grove.