Carmel’s Ashley Schlabowske strolled up to the free-throw line with a carefree look in the second quarter Monday night.
The sophomore guard glanced around at her teammates before calmly sinking two free throws to help the Corsairs build on their double-digit lead against Libertyville.
“I wasn’t nervous for those free throws today,” Schlabowske said, smiling.
Five days after Schlabowske hit three free throws with 1.8 seconds left to beat highly ranked Benet, Carmel cruised to a 52-31 nonconference win against the Wildcats in Mundelein.
Schlabowske was among a number of players who contributed to the victory for the Corsairs (21-7), who welcomed an end to their six-game losing streak against Libertyville (19-10) dating back to the 2015-16 season. She hit two 3-pointers and finished with eight points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists in limited play.
Senior Grace Sullivan, a Bucknell recruit, had 12 points and six rebounds; junior Jordan Wood, a Michigan State commit, had 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists; and junior Kyla Smith chipped in 11 points with three first-half 3-pointers.
Schlabowske has proved to be a quick study. She displayed tremendous moxie in the 46-45 victory against Benet on Feb. 2. Even when Benet coach Joe Kilbride called three timeouts in an attempt to ice her, Schlabowske connected on each shot.
“We haven’t beaten Benet in like 10 years, so I was shaking, and it was the scariest thing because I wanted to beat them so bad,” Schlabowske said. “After I made the first one, I knew I was going to make them all.”
Smith is a player to watch in the Corsairs’ quest to win the Class 3A state title. Her shooting helped them take control against Libertyville.
“I’ve tried to get a lot of shots in practice, and today showed that,” Smith said. “I just want to help the team make it downstate. It feels good to contribute.”
Carmel coach Ben Berg said the development of Smith gives his team another scoring threat.
“I have confidence in Kyla,” Berg said. “It’s hard because she doesn’t play as many minutes as the starters, but she was locked in. I was happy to see the scoring spread out, which I think we will need at some time. Our two bigs are great, but I’m proud of the other girls. I think we can make a run.”
Libertyville was no match for the Corsairs without star junior guard Emily Fisher, a Maryland commit who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Senior Libby Ryan also was sidelined.
Sophomore Rachel Rule led the Wildcats with nine points.
“They (Fisher and Ryan) both are injured, and we knew they weren’t going to play tonight,” Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said. “From our perspective, we had large times when we had freshmen and sophomores on the floor.
“We wanted to focus on stopping Grace and Jordan, and the other girls really hurt us. They got really good guard play. All things considered, we’re happy to get minutes for our younger girls.”
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Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.