Bonder brothers lead Libertyville to NSC tourney win

Libertyville has a brother-brother combination that has come together at the right time of the season.

Junior Chase Bonder (20 points, 12 rebounds) and his sophomore brother Cole (10 points) combined as fourth-seeded Libertyville ran past Zion-Benton 79-52 in the quarterfinals of the North Suburban Conference boys basketball tournament on Friday night in Libertyville.

Cole Bonder scored 9 of his points in the second quarter that included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in giving Libertyville a 40-28 lead at the break.

"I guess I kind of get it from my brother," Cole Bonder said. "I actually thought Marc (Michelotti) was going to shoot (a 3-pointer). He gave it to me and I knew I had to hit it. It gave us momentum going into the half."

Libertyville (7-7) has won 5 of its last 6 games and the Wildcats y have found some things that have worked to get better play late in the season.

"It's been pretty consistent recently and we really work well together," said Cole Bonder, who's 6-foot-5. "Especially, over the last two games. I have learned a lot from (Chase) on and off the court. He always keeps pushing me going for those offense rebounds."

Chase Bonder (6-foot-7) dominated the third quarter by scoring 9 points and pulled down a handful of rebounds. It put the Wildcats out in front 58-39 going into the final quarter.

"We actually made this offense work with more screens," Chase Bonder said. "We were just shooting well with breakaways leading to layups. We were able to break their press that helped me out. We're hitting our peak at the right time together as a team."

Michelotti scored 9 of his 11 points in the opening quarter for the Wildcats.

"Games happen so fast, you don't even think about your record," Libertyville coach Brian Zyrkowski said. "We get to advance to the next round."

Libertyville will next play at top-seeded Mundelein on Tuesday.

"We did the right things in the second half (Friday)," Zyrkowski said. "Zion-Benton does a great job of getting their own rebounds and getting to the rim very well. Amar Augillard is just a stud."

Augillard lead Zion-Benton (5-5) with 22 points and 14 rebounds and Joseph Worthington added 10 points.

"(Libertyville) shot the ball well and ran their stuff good," Zion-Benton coach Bobby Worthington said. "We didn't come out with the energy that we normally come out with. I'm at a loss, we just didn't come out with the defensive intensity that we normally do. Call it legs or call it whatever you want, short season or the competition."