McHENRY, Ill. — Jordan Johnston said there was a mixture of tears and laughter in Hononegah’s locker room after Thursday night’s 51-35 loss to Libertyville in the IHSA 4A McHenry Sectional finals.
“We reflected on the season and all the memories,” the 5-foot-10 senior said. “We had some turnovers tonight and it sucks our shots weren’t going in, but I don’t think it’s too early to think about what we accomplished this season. We had a good run and we got to the sweet 16.”
After watching Rockford Guilford get destroyed by the tall Wildcats in Tuesday’s semifinals, the Indians knew they had their work cut out for them. They got a nice early spark off the bench from sophomore Kylie Simpson with a pair of 3-pointers and jumped out to a 17-10 lead.
Libertyville closed within 18-14 by the end of the quarter and the game looked like it would be a dogfight. For three quarters and a few minutes of the fourth, it was.
“I think our start was because teams tend to struggle against our ball press early and it puts them on their heels,” Hononegah head coach Jason Brunke said. “Then all of a sudden the better teams start feeling more comfortable with what they’re doing and once they do that they start being a little more aggressive on the defensive end, too.”
The Wildcats made their first move midway through the second quarter, using a 10-0 run to take a 29-22 lead. Hononegah answered with a pair of baskets to trail only 29-26 at halftime.
Libertyville’s 6-2 junior Madison Sears scored inside and the Wildcats went up 33-26 before Hononegah’s Danielle Franz got it back to four, 33-29, with a 3-pointer. Libertyville pushed it back to 39-32 by the end of the quarter as the Indians missed several point-blank shots.
The fourth quarter started with Allyson Niedfeldt’s 3-pointer cutting the Wildcats’ advantage back to four at 39-35, but the Indians shooters hit the wall after that. They couldn’t get anything to fall the rest of the quarter and were outscored 12-3.
The Wildcats (30-5) were led by 6-foot Lily Fisher and 5-7 Rachel Rule with 13 points apiece.
Libertyville shut down Hononegah’s top scorers, holding everyone to single digits except Johnston, who had 12 points. The Indians’ Jordan Dimke, who had 19 points against Lake Zurich, held her own on the boards against Libertyville, tallied only five points.
“Sometimes shots fall and sometimes they don’t,” Brunke said. “They’re a highly athletic, very tall team. Your window for getting your shots off is smaller so sometimes you rush them. That could be one of the reasons we struggled.”
Brunke wasn’t about to be critical of his 30-5 Indians who were undefeated in the NIC-10, won the Auburn Regional and were in position to win a sectional.
“I took this job four years ago and this is my first group of freshmen,” the coach said. “They accomplished so much and getting to the Sweet 16 says a lot about their character and how good they were as teammates. There’s a lot to be proud of.”
BOXSCORE:
LIBERTYVILLE 51, HONONEGAH 35
Hononegah 18 8 6 3 — 35
Libertyville 14 15 10 12 — 51
HONONEGAH (fg ft-fta pts) — Johnston 5 1-2 12, Simpson 3 0-0 8, Robinson 0 1-4 1, Franz 1 0-0 3, Niedfeldt 2 0-0 6, Dimke 2 0-0 5. Totals: 13 2-6 35.
LIBERTYVILLE (fg ft-fta pts) — Fisher 5 2-3 13, Lindal 3 0-0 8, K. Rule 0 5-8 5, R. Rule 5 1-2 13, Kopala 2 0-0 5, Sears 3 1-2 7. Totals: 18 9-15 51.
3-pt. Goals: Hono 7 (Niedfeldt 2, Simpson 2, Johnston, Franz, Dimke), L 6 (R. Rule 2, Lindal 2, Fisher, Kopala). Fouled out: Simpson. Total fouls: Hono 16, L 9.
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