Libertyville rally stops ND
By Drake Skleba
The stars were out tonight in the second quarterfinal game. Libertyville senior F Billy Meyer and Notre Dame's Shawn Wallace put on an outstanding individual battle.
Meyer scored 36 and had a dozen boards; Wallace pumped in 24 and hauled in nine rebounds. In the end it was Meyer's Wildcats who came out with a 69-64 win.
Meyer scored 10 points in each of the last three quarters including the crucial fourth, where the Wildcats outscored ND 22-14 to take the victory.
Libertyville (7-3) received a big lift off the bench from 6-foot-3 F Hobie Herberger. The senior's 14 points included three threes. Herberger scored eight points in the decisive fourth quarter.
"We started slowly and we played poorly," said Herberger. "We really got going and came back for a big win. I personally haven't shot the ball well lately. It was good to hit my shots today."
Notre Dame (9-4) jumped out to a 10-0 lead and made it look like the Dons were going to run the Wildcats out of the gym. ND led 19-9 after one quarter. Meyer and Herberger scored 16 between them and brought the Wildcats within striking distance at 33-29 at the half.
"It looked they were going to blow us out with that 10-0 start," said Libertyville head coach Scott Bogumil. "We just chipped away at their lead behind Billy. Hobie came off the bench and gave us a huge lift and helped lead us to the win."
Wallace scored 13 in the third quarter to single-handedly keep the Dons ahead at 50-47. Wallace added five rebounds for the quarter.
At the 6:36 mark of fourth quarter, Herberger nailed a trey that concluded a 7-0 run that put the 'Cats up 54-50.
Herberger's lay in with 2:50 left kept Libertyville up 60-57. But Wallace tied things up at 60 on a 22-foot bomb at the 2:35 mark.
Meyer answered with four points on a lay in and two free throws to give the Wildcats a 64-60 lead with two minutes left.
Junior G Ryan Barth (five points) nailed two clutch free throws to help seal the victory. Then Meyer supplied the coup de grace with a steal under the Notre Dame basket.
"We really picked it up after the 10-0 start by ND," said Meyer. "We chipped away and it was a great win over a great team. I really felt good in warmups and my shot was there tonight. I have to rebound along with Luke Matthewson because we are not a tall team."
Notre Dame received a big performance from 6-foot-5 junior F Quinton Chievous, who scored 18 points and added 13 rebounds.
