It's all Libertyville in regional final
Two games decided by a total of 8 points during rugged conference play provided no indicator of what was to come in a postseason showdown.
Libertyville's girls blew out Zion-Benton 60-35 on Vernon Hills' basketball court to capture their second Class 4A regional championship in three years on Thursday night.
Who saw that coming?
“I did not,” Libertyville junior guard Lydia Crow said after scoring a game-high 22 points. “ (Zion-Benton) played really hard, but we played just as hard back. We really fought for it. It was a good game all-around.”
Playing against a Zion-Benton frontcourt that features legitimate bigs in Morgan Callahan and Jaea Johnson, Maddie Spaulding played better than good. The Libertyville senior scored 12 points and, maybe more impressively, grabbed 12 rebounds, as third-seeded Wildcats (23-7) advanced to Tuesday's 7 p.m. sectional semifinal at Libertyville against No. 2 Lake Forest (25-7).
Who saw that coming?
“Enormous,” Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said of Spaulding's performance. “I think that's probably the best game of her career, because of the situation and because of the opponents, the big kids on Zion. She was amazing tonight. I'm so happy for her, being her senior year. She was strong around the basket.”
Spaulding, a 5-foot-11 post and three-year varsity player, sank all 6 of her shots from the floor. Five of her rebounds came at the offensive end.
“She was a beast,” Crow said.
“We just wanted to box them out and make sure they didn't get any second chances on the rebounds,” Spaulding said. “We wanted to be ‘big' and not allow them that space to drive.”
No. 6 Zion-Benton (21-8) and Libertyville split their two games during North Suburban Conference action, with Libertyville winning 52-49 in Zion in late November and the Zee-Bees avenging the loss with a 60-55 win on the road in early January.
This time around, Libertyville shot well (21 of 42) while Zion-Benton did not (14 of 49).
“There have been so many things that have hit this team,” said coach Tanya Johnson, whose Zee-Bees were without junior backup Kaylen Porter, who was in a serious car accident recently. “It's been an emotional roller coaster. But they battled. They came back second half. We ran out of gas.”
Libertyville bolted to a 9-2 lead, and while Zion-Benton answered back, Abigail Frea's 3-pointer had the Wildcats up 14-8 after one quarter. They then opened the second quarter with a pair of strong buckets inside by Spaulding and a step-back 3-pointer by Crow.
“We always try to start off really strong, and get up and down the floor,” said Crow, who was a key contributor as a freshman on the 2017 squad. “I think it really helps us to set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Zion-Benton got within 11 points four times in the second half, the last time when Ranya Jamison (team-high 9 points) sank 2 free throws with 6:06 left in the fourth. But Frea's pullup jumper started a 9-0 run, ending the Zee-Bees' comeback bid.
“If you let them get deep and catch the ball, they're going to score,” Pedersen said. “So it was up to Abigail and Maddie (to deny them), and Abby Parkerson was amazing tonight. Great minutes. The three of them combined to really reduce what (Z-B) wanted to try to do inside, whereas last time they really had their way with us.”
Parkerson, a 6-1 junior went in when Spaulding picked up her third foul early in the second half. Parkerson, who did not play in the first half, scored 6 points on 3-of-3 shooting. Margaret Buchert added 11 points for Libertyville. Crow went 8 of 8 from the stripe in the fourth.
“We didn't wan it to be our last game,” Spaulding said. “We wanted to play in a sectional on our home court, and we came together. We were aggressive, played strong team defense, and we worked together.”