Girls Basketball: Glenbrook South too much for Libertyville

Updated: January 23, 2012 10:07PM

On paper it looked to be good one. Visiting Libertyville (16-6) was fresh off a win over a quality Stevenson team. And home-standing Glenbrook South had only four losses to report before Monday’s meeting.

The Titans (18-4) scored the game’s first bucket and never looked back. Both team’s defenses played well in the Titans’ 42-30 nonconference win.

“They are a good team,’’ said Libertyville coach Kathie Swanson. “They were a challenge on the inside and outside.”

It looked like this game might get out of hand early. GBS was up 16-6 halfway through the second quarter when Sara Meinecke scored on back to back drives. The visitors crawled back into this game on the back of the center Nicole Kruckman (8 points, 8 rebounds). This senior’s turnaround shot beat the halftime buzzer and the Wildcats trailed just 20-16.

“It was a physical game,’’ said Glenbrook South coach Steve Weissenstein.

“It was hard for the teams to do some things. But that’s our bread and butter. We take pride in our defense.”

Libertyville’s offense struggled against the tall Titans. And the third quarter was dominated on offense by the McDonagh sisters. Colleen McDonagh (15 points) opened the third quarter with a three-pointer. She added another trey later in the quarter. Molly McDonagh (13 points) added a jumper and Glenbrook South opened up a double digit lead at 32-20.

“We were very stagnant on offense,’’ Swanson said. “That’s kind of disappointing.”

The Wildcats did get a spirited effort from senior guard Eileen Knauff. She gave her club eight points and five rebounds.

Molly McDonagh scored her team’s lone field goal of the fourth quarter. The Titans salted this game away at the foul line. Lindsey Oldshue chipped in 10 points for the winners.

Oldshue was also given credit for slowing down Libertyville’s top scorer, Alex Haley (seven points).

“Haley is a great player,’’ Weissenstein said. “But Lindsey takes so much pride in her defense.”

The Wildcats lost Olivia Mayer to fouls and both Haley and Kerry Risley ended with four fouls each.

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