Scouts Barely Sneak By With Victory As Libertyville Erases A 19-Point Deficit
Douglass Drops 33 Points In 64-60 Scouts Victory
December 4, 2019
LAKE FOREST — No matter what sport is being played, Lake Forest High School and Libertyville High School don’t like each other.
This rivalry is always a must-watch event, especially on the hardwood for both girls basketball teams over the past couple of years.
Last year, Libertyville beat the Scouts out by one game to win the North Suburban Conference title, but the Scouts then got revenge in the Sectional semifinals, dispatching Libertyville, 66-53.
So to the say the least, this game had a lot riding on it entering play on Tuesday night at the Competition Gym.
In the early stages of the game, it was all Lake Forest, particularly senior Halle Douglass. The Wisconsin commit had 17 points at the half as Lake Forest lead by fourteen heading to the locker rooms, 31-17.
The Scouts continued that dominance in the early stages of the third taking a 19-point lead halfway through the quarter. But then Libertyville head coach Gary Pederson did something that the Scouts have not seen in a while, he began playing a press defense.
The press defense frustrated the girls as Libertyville cut into the lead behind 13 points from Lydia Crow and 15 points from Lauren Huber.
“We hadn’t done a ton of work when it came to breaking through different types of presses,” said Douglass. “Going forward we are focusing on really understanding what to do in those situations so we can break them easily.”
The ‘Cats finally tied the game with about six minutes left in the fourth, and for a rare moment the Scouts looked to be in danger of a stunning loss, with their offense struggling to get through the vaunted trap.
But then the girls prevailed, scoring 12 of the game’s last 20 points mainly behind clutch free throws from Molly Fisher, Lilly Trkla, and Douglass, who dropped a season-high 33 points.
“This was a great team win,” said Douglass. “Libertyville is a great team and they’re only going to get better as the season goes on.”
“To beat them right off the bat is really good for us,” she added.
Overall, this was not the prettiest win by Lake Forest but as they always say, a win is a win. Libertyville is not an easy opponent to face and this game was certainly a wake-up call for the Scouts about how tough each game in conference is going to be this season. Their schedule is only going to get tougher as they have upcoming conference matchups against Stevenson this Thursday and Lake Zurich next Friday.
Stay tuned to The Forest Scout for recaps following every Scout game from myself or Connor Clark.
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