On Friday, Jan 30, the Libertyville Wildcats took on a North Suburban Conference rival, the Mundelein Mustangs. Libertyville came out on top with a 42-27 victory and secured their 19th win of the year.
The Wildcats started out hot in this game with 10 straight unanswered points. With 1:45 left in the first quarter, Mustangs Senior guard Madelyn Gardner (1) got Mundelein on the scoreboard after making one out of two free throw attempts. However, Junior guard Lily Fisher (3) responded by putting up a tough shot off the glass to put the Cats up by 11.
One of the biggest contributing factors that allowed Libertyville to separate themselves from their conference opponents was the amount of depth they have going down the bench.
In the second quarter, Mundelein’s offense started to pick up a bit more but they weren’t able to keep up with the scoring capability of the Wildcats. As the second quarter went on, the Cats were able to get more stops on the defensive end and score consistently on the offensive end.
Very late in the first half, it looked like the score at halftime was going to be 19-6 with the Wildcats maintaining the lead. But with the clock winding down, junior guard Charlotte Harrison (4) hit a buzzer beater to end the half and put the Cats up 22-6.
Out of halftime, Libertyville started to settle in the game and tried to drain the clock as they already maintained a sizable lead over Mundelein.
The Mustangs looked much better offensively in the second half and were able to brighten up the box score a bit by scoring eight and 13 points in the third and fourth quarter respectively.
Differently from the Mustangs, Libertyville was very consistent across all four quarters scoring wise. They averaged 10.5 points a quarter compared to Mundelein’s 6.75.
Coming into this game, Libertyville had just lost to Lake Zurich 50-28. Responding with a win was imperative to get back on track with just six games left in the season. The Wildcats who were once atop the North Suburban Conference are now second and trying to claw their way back to first with little room for error.
Libertyville has a three game stretch on the road against Waukegan, Lake Forest and Maine South respectively. But after that the Cats are back at home against Glenbrook South on Feb 9. Overall, this was a good way to respond to loss against a tough opponent and keep their sights set on a conference championship.
