Brandon SImberg

Claire Keefe defends #15 on Lake Zurich during the second half of the Wildcats 34-31 loss to the Bears.

On Tuesday, Nov. 29, the girls varsity basketball team lost their conference opener to the Lake Zurich Bears, 34-31.

The Cats (2-5) led 10-6 after the first quarter, but the Bears tied it 16-16 at half. The Cats’ 31 points were a season low.

“The teams that we’ve played so far don’t play defense like Lake Zurich,” said Cats coach Greg Pedersen. “This was a typical Libertyville-Lake Zurich game.”

The Bears’ stifling defense shined in the third quarter. They held the WIldcats to seven points while using an 8-2 run to get a permanent lead. The Bears were able to keep senior forward Claire Keefe in check, holding her to only 2 points. She was often double-teamed when receiving the ball in the post.

No player scored more than 10 points for Libertyville, and senior forward Caroline Frea led with 8. The Bears had a more balanced attack, with three players scoring 10 points.

A comeback seemed improbable when Frea scored the Cats’ first points of the fourth quarter with 2:30 remaining. However, back-to-back three pointers by senior guard Riley Weis (5 points) and freshman guard Lydia Crow (6 points) cut the lead to 1 with under a minute remaining in the game. After two made free throws by Lake Zurich, Weis had a chance to tie the game, but her three-point attempt was no good.

“We knew it was going to come down to the last two or three possessions. The difference is that they bumped up a lead, so we had to fight and come back,” Pedersen said. “But I knew our team would respond and they would come back. In the end, we got in some positions where we had to be desperate.”

The Cats’ next game is on the road at Zion on Friday night at 7 p.m.