Haley's hot hand lifts Libertyville

Updated: March 23, 2011 2:04PM

It didn't take long for Libertyville to identify the hot shooter.

Wildcat guard Alex Haley hit a 10-foot jumper on the game's opening possession Tuesday night. She didn't stop all evening, scoring 16 points on 7 of 10 field goals to spark Libertyville to a 61-40 victory over Deerfield in an IHSA Class 4A regional semifinal at Deerfield.

"I was just lucky to have the hot hand," Haley said. "It was nice my teammates got me the ball."

The only thing that stopped Haley was foul trouble. She picked up two early fouls and finished the game with four fouls.

The victory bumped Libertyville's record to 28-0 and established a school record for wins (the 1982-83 team was 27-1). The other key contributors on Tuesday were Savannah Trees (12 points, five assists), Olivia Wilcox (10 points), Valerie Van Roeyen (eight points) and Kerry Risley (seven rebounds).

Despite the 21-point victory, head coach Kathie Swanson had some issues with her team's play.

"That (fouls) was one thing I was disappointed with," Swanson said. "We put them on the foul line way too much."

Swanson continues to hammer home the need to bring an ‘A' game to every contest.

"Every team wants to give us their best game," Swanson said. "We have to bring our best game."

Libertyville will play for a regional title on Thursday night.

Deerfield (12-16) managed to keep it close for most of the first half, trailing only 24-15 at one point.

"We went to a little junk defense," said Warriors coach Mike Muldrow. "We went 1-3 with a chaser. They (Cats) adjusted, but it took them awhile."

Kathleen Forrest led the Warriors with 18 points, while Liz Yucknut added seven points and six rebounds.

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