On Tuesday, Nov. 21, the Libertyville girls varsity basketball team lost to the Maine South Hawks 61-40, in a non-conference game. The Wildcats had won their first two previous games making this their first defeat of the season.

The Hawks (4-0) won the first possession and started off the game with a strong offense, scoring the first six points. Not long after, senior Morgan Manski got the Wildcats on the scoreboard with two consecutive three-pointers. However, the Hawks were winning 18-10 at the end of the first quarter and would have the lead for the rest of the game.

At the end of the second quarter, the Wildcats attempted at a comeback with multiple baskets from the top LHS scorer of the game, sophomore Margaret Buchert (12 points), along with a three-pointer from sophomore Lydia Crow (five points). The half finished with Maine South leading, 29-25.

The Wildcats tried to regroup during halftime, and in the second half their strategy was to “not let any back door cuts because that’s what their whole game was… our coach just said to work hard, keep playing defense, and try to get a lead,” said Manski.

The third quarter was low-scoring for the Wildcats. The Hawks dominated with both a strong defense and a driven offense. LHS scored just five points while Maine South had 18 to extend their lead.

Overall, Manski believes the team as a whole could have improved on “rebounding because they had a lot of second shots. We could have also worked on our passes; I feel like we had a lot of turnovers.”

The varsity team will play again on Friday, Nov. 24, against Mother McAuley.