Boys Basketball: Pils’ patented finish not quite enough against Lake Zurich
by tim froehlig Contributor January 30, 2012 11:30PM
Matt Varner of the Cats goes to the hoop during Friday's game at Lake Zurich. | Joe Shuman~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: April 2, 2012 1:55AM
After starting the season with seven consecutive wins, the Libertyville boys basketball team has come back to reality a bit.
That reality, of course, is known as the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.
Since the Wildcats’ outstanding start, they’ve hovered around the .500 mark at 6-7. But that doesn’t mean they’ve been playing poorly, by any means.
Libertyville (13-7 overall, 3-5 NSC Lake) is one of seven Lake Division squads consistently showing that, on any given night, there isn’t one team incapable of beating another.
Just how good has the competition there been this season?
So good that Zion-Benton (7-11 overall) is the only NSC Lake squad with a losing record. And part of the reason for that may have something to do with the recent teacher’s strike in Zion, since the Zee-Bees went over three weeks without playing a game at one point.
“I was talking with some of the other coaches, and it’s just amazing,” said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. “There’s less than a week before the (IHSA postseason) seeding meeting, and there are 15 teams out of the 20 or 21 in our sectional that have winning records. Honestly, I don’t even think it matters that much where anyone gets seeded with that kind of competition. It’s whether or not the matchups you wind up getting are against teams you play well against or not. That’s going to be much more important.”
Libertyville’s latest game served as a prime example of such parity. Lake Zurich (13-10) topped the Wildcats 68-62 in overtime Friday night, despite yet another round of late-game heroics from 6-foot-4 senior guard Griffin Pils.
A week after scoring 20 points in the final five minutes against Carmel, Pils reeled off eight points in the final 1:01 against the Bears — including a ridiculous, bank-shot three-pointer with a defender in his face. He also sank three straight free throws to force OT, after being fouled on a three-point attempt for the second time in six days.
“Honestly, I’m not sure why I’ve been scoring so many points late in games,” said Pils, who scored a team-high 20 points. “I think part of the reason is (that) we’ve been trailing, which has made us more aggressive when we’ve had to be.”
And while that can be fun to watch, it’s not the way Libertyville’s coaching staff has drawn things up.
“That was a bit of deja vu, what (Pils) did against LZ, definitely,” Bogumil said with a laugh. “I’m sure it’s keeping everyone entertained, but it’s not the way we want things to be.”
It also emphasizes the point Bogumil has been trying to stress to his players lately — specifically, the fact that Libertyville has been starting games slowly since conference play began. Far too often, the Cats have had to claw their way back into games they’ve trailed most of the way.
“I think it’s a confidence thing, and a preparation thing,” said Bogumil, who’s in his eighth season leading the Wildcats. “We need to be a lot more focused early in games. Too often, we’ve been waiting until it’s late in the game to bring the kind of intensity that we want to sustain all game long. That has to change if we want to be successful in the playoffs. Pils and (Ellis) Matthews have been carrying us on offense, although Luke Mathewson did have a strong game and contributed a lot, too (against LZ).”
Jack Deichl, who scored four first-quarter points, and Matt Varner, who scored all six of his points in the first half — along with guard Anthony Mack — are among those Bogumil would like more production from.
“We don’t have a real deep bench,” Bogumil said. “But those guys need to step up their scoring and rebounding on a more consistent basis for us to go deep into the postseason.”
The Wildcats, who were 22-for-59 from the field against LZ, and 13-for-19 from the free-throw line, have a pair of very important games upcoming. First, they host Stevenson, on Friday. Libertyvilles lost its first game of the season, to the Patriots, in overtime.
The Cats also travel to Milwaukee, where they’ll play Maine South at the Bradley Center — home of the NBA’s Bucks — on Saturday.
“We really want revenge against Stevenson,” Bogumil said. “They’re our rivals, so we won’t need any motivation getting ready for them after what they did to us last time. And the game the following day in Milwaukee is a one-of-a-kind, fun opportunity for our kids. It should be an exciting weekend.”
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