Wildcats Last Season
Libertyville High School has an incredible sports department, and the girls’ basketball program is not an exception. After their performance last season where they went 28-6 in total with an undefeated conference 14-0 record, allowing them to place first in the North Suburban Conference, the Cats were expecting big things out of their team in the 2025-2026 season.
Last year, in general, the Cats were a young team with mostly sophomores and juniors. However, three seniors graduated, including star center and power forward Madison Sears, who committed to Illinois Wesleyan University to play basketball.
Opportunities for Underclassmen
The Wildcats have taken on a multitude of injuries to their starting lineup, including both senior Point Guard Sophia Swanson and senior Shooting Guard Ella Pawelczyk. Despite having to deal with injury annoyances and having to stay on the bench for some games, those two star players have proven their ability to support and act as leaders for their teammates.
“We have to take a next person up mentality, which when someone goes down, where we always have people who are ready to accept the challenge.” Head Coach Greg Pedersen said.
Coach Pedersen emphasized the importance of having depth to fill in for players. He feels confident in their ability to fill in for players who have gotten injured, as well as the quality of athletes going down the bench.
Now, Libertyville maintains the leadership and experience thanks to the seniors on the team. But the team has more fresh talent in some spots with three freshmen making the varsity roster. Freshman Addie Casey was even able to be a starter for a few games due to the injuries sustained this year.
Current Success
This has proven true, as Libertyville has gotten off to a phenomenal start, going 7–2 in its first nine games and starting 3–0 against North Suburban Conference opponents in conference play. As of Dec 11, the Wildcats sit atop the conference followed by Lake Zurich and Mundelein who also have the same 3-0 record in the NSC.
“The key is gonna be working together. We’ve got some new people on the team this year, so just getting used to playing with everybody and like support[ing] on and off the court,” said senior guard and forward Caitlyn Griffith.
Griffith also emphasized the importance that they play for each other out on the court and that would be crucial for their success during the season.
The offense has been hot so far through seven games, averaging 55.0 points per game. A lot of those points come from their playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, like juniors Lily Fisher and Elle Knight and sophomore guard Jenna Stowe who can quickly heat up when she gets in the game.
“We’re always looking to investigate to see how we can get into the paint with the ball, because that’s where we could shoot the ball pretty well,” said Coach Pedersen.
Coach Pedersen talked about making sure everyone on the team was giving 100% meaning they were prepared to play on the varsity team, as well as making sure the players on the team were “feeling good about their efforts”.
Goals For the Season
For the Cats, the overarching goal is to be competitive in the NSC and to be in the running for that title. Going one step further, a regional championship could potentially be in their sights as well. That was definitely a goal in mind for Coach Pedersen coming into this season, but due to injuries among the team, staying on course and playing smart basketball is more important now than ever.
“So now we’re just trying to get people to be the best players they can be this year and see if we can still reach those [goals]” said Coach Pedersen. Coach Pedersen also highlighted the importance of getting better on the defensive side of the ball.
“We’re trying to get to the point where we get lockdown stops when we need them, where we can play a top 25 team and get a stop when we need it.” Coach Pedersen said.
Going Forward
Overall, the cats have high expectations for the year, certainly after the successful start to the season they’ve had so far. Despite the team playing well this early into the season, they expect to become even better once they get healthy again by adding depth and versatility to give them an even better chance at the North Suburban Conference title.
