When Libertyville starting forward Kaca Savatic injured her right knee late in the first half of the Mundelein Holiday Classic title game on Saturday night, her teammates stepped up for her.
The Wildcats took control in the third quarter and held on to hand No. 19 Cary-Grove its first loss of the season, 51-45.
Savatic hit two free throws to put her team up 22-21 with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the second quarter, just before the injury occurred. She sat out the rest of the game with an ice pack on her knee.
“Kaca got hurt in the first half, so we wanted to play for her too,” said Wildcats guard Katelynn Jennings, who scored a team-high 16 points. “She’s such a spark on our team and brings a lot of energy.”
Libertyville (13-4) went on a 7-0 run in the third quarter for a 33-26 advantage, led by Jennings’ five points. The Wildcats took a 39-32 lead into the fourth.
“Everyone knew what they had to do,” Jennings said. “So it was one of those things that everything started clicking in that quarter. With two days off, everyone got to shoot around early. We have a lot of great shooters.”
Jennings made a 3-pointer with 2:55 left to put the Wildcats up 44-38. Savannah Trees and Nicole Kruckman each hit a pair of free throws to make it 49-42 with 25 seconds to play.
Claire Jakubicek led Cary-Grove (15-1) with a game-high 17 points. The Trojans made 3 of 16 3-pointers; Libertyville connected on 6 of 14.
