The boys’ basketball season came to an end Tuesday, March 1, as they were defeated by the Barrington Broncos 53-41 in a Regional semifinal matchup.
The 10-13 Wildcats came into the game hoping for the same success they had found in their previous game, a Regional victory over Palatine. LHS had managed to sneak away from Palatine with a slim one-point victory, a recurring theme for the Cats. Prior to their matchup with Barrington, the team had been allowing 55 points per game, while scoring an average of 56.1.
In the loss, LHS forced turnovers, played tough defense, and got to the free throw line frequently throughout much of the game. On the flip side, though, they were not able to capitalize on the turnovers that they forced, struggled to rebound, and shot a poor percentage from the free throw line.
"We had trouble rebounding early, and they had easy put-backs. Later in the game we gave them a few free throws on unnecessary fouls. It was a very win-able game," senior Jeremy Birck said.
At times, the team broke down fundamentally on both ends of the floor. Barrington successfully capitalized on three different occasions in which they had wide open three-pointers.
The game began on a positive note for Libertyville. While they were not shooting the ball particularly well, their defense was completely shutting down Barrington. Contributions offensively from Ryan Barth and Ellis Matthews, as well as a buzzer-beating layup from Griffin Pils, put the Cats up 10-5 at the end of the first quarter.
Along with the brutish half court defense that the Cats were playing, the team only turned the ball over once in the first half.
The tide took a turn in the second quarter, as the Broncos were able to battle their way back. Much like in the first quarter, neither team shot the ball well. Libertyville’s only field goals in the second quarter came from Ellis Matthews, who knocked down a three pointer and a jump shot. Aside from Matthews, the only other player to score for the Cats in the second quarter was Luke Mathewson, who converted on two free throw attempts.
The third quarter put the dagger in the Cats, as they broke down on each end of the floor.
The Broncos found their groove offensively, knocking down three-pointers and getting shots in the low post. They consistently got to the free throw line in the third quarter, and made half of their shots. The rhythm that the Broncos found was likely due to the missed assignments on the part of Libertyville. Several open three-pointers broke the game open, and would be too much for the Cats to overcome.
Defensively, the Broncos played a fantastic quarter. Libertyville forced up shots multiple times, and could not get the rebounds for second chance points. It seemed as if Barrington had an answer for everything that the Cats were doing offensively. The only person able to get any kind of rhythm going was senior Ryan Barth. In the midst of Barrington’s domination, he was able to make several tough fade-away jump shots, and ended up with eight points in the quarter.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Broncos led by a score of 38-29.
Very little would change in the fourth quarter, as the Cats only made three field goals. The majority of the Cats’ fourth quarter points would come from the free throw line, where they would make 6 of 12 attempts.
The Wildcats as a team did an excellent job of getting to the free throw line, which would have helped balance out some of their missed shots had they not managed to hit only 10 of their 18 attempts. Barrington was not nearly as efficient in getting to the line. Still, they took 28 free throws over the course of the game (converting on 14), as LHS sent them to the line on each possession in the final two minutes.
The game ended with a final score of 53-41, in favor of Barrington.
Ryan Barth lead Libertyville in scoring with 16. Ellis Matthews scored 11.
"I don't think that the season was ultimately as successful as we all thought it would be when the season started," Barth said. "But it was really fun playing with this group of guys, and we all became good friends. We worked hard everyday and had some games where we played really well."