Claire Keefe knows every inch on the floor of her home court at Libertyville. On Feb. 20, Keefe also was familiar with her competition in what proved to be the final game on her home court.
Against Fremd in a Class 4A Libertyville Sectional semifinal, Keefe faced Vikings senior forward Grace Tworek, a Harvard recruit and Keefe’s best friend.
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“We have played basketball together since the eighth grade, traveling the country in (club) basketball,” Keefe said. The two starred in the Midwest Elite AAU program.
Keefe showed no fear against a formidable opponent during a fantastic half of basketball. She made seven of eight shots from the floor, including a 3-pointer, and scored 17 of the Wildcats’ 20 first-half points.
“That was me proving myself,” she said.
Libertyville trailed by two at the break, but Fremd pulled away in the second half to win 58-40 and end Libertyville’s season.
Keefe wrapped up her decorated tenure at Libertyville by scoring a personal-best 24 points and adding 10 rebounds. She shot 10-of-12 from the floor. She scored 1,109 career points, the fourth-highest total in program history. Her 811 rebounds are third all-time.
After getting off to a slow start to the season, Libertyville (18-12) won 13 of its 17 games leading up to the sectional semifinals.
The Wildcats stunned North Suburban Conference champion Stevenson in the regional final by edging the Patriots 35-33 on their home court.
Libertyville won its first regional since 2011.
“I think when we were 5-7, a lot of teams would have packed up and folded, and that includes some of the teams we have had, teams that would have shied away from the challenge,” Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said.
“This team never lost the desire to compete.”
The team’s top three scorers were seniors: Keefe, forward Caroline Frea (10.2 points) and guard Riley Weis (7.3 points).
Forward Maddie Spaulding, who scored four points against Fremd, is a 5-foot-10 sophomore with great potential. Freshman guard Lydia Crow will be among the top returning players in the backcourt. Junior guard Zi Tompkins and 6-2 sophomore Eliza Dembinski also should be in the mix.
In the locker room after the Fremd game, each Libertyville player had a moment to reflect on what was meaningful from the season. Laughter and tears intertwined.
“We were all sad that it was over,” Frea said. “I really love my teammates. They are the greatest group of people, and we were all sad that we would not be spending every day together.”
The season’s turning point, Keefe said, was a spirited practice following the team’s tough Thanksgiving tournament performance. Bringing together the seniors and underclassmen took some time, and the Wildcats decided to combat the struggles with humor.
“We just said, ‘If we were not going to be the best team out there, we were going to be the funniest,’ ” Keefe recalled. “I became very close with these girls, and that family atmosphere really pushed us and helped us get that great chemistry on the floor.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press