If Libertyville’s Madison Sears is on the court, chances are she’s stationed down low, rolling up her sleeves to go to work.
The paint is primarily where the 6-foot-2 senior center plies her trade, and with four years of varsity experience, she has accrued a wealth of knowledge about what it takes to have the upper hand there.
“I love the battle, and I love to body up in there because it’s so much fun to me,” Sears said. “I get lots of bruises from working in there, but that just pushes me to get tougher. There might be someone that’s better or bigger. When there’s not, you can really exploit it for your advantage.”
That’s precisely what Sears did during top-seeded Libertyville’s 59-35 win against fourth-seeded Carmel in the Class 4A Round Lake Regional championship game on Thursday. The Illinois Wesleyan commit took advantage of the Corsairs’ lack of brawn to rack up a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Wildcats cruised to their sixth straight regional title.
Senior guard Elinor Lindal scored 13 points for the Wildcats (27-5), who have won 10 straight games and will play third-seeded Hononegah in the Huntley Sectional semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Sophomore guard Lily Fisher added 11 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Josie Hartman’s 15 points led the Corsairs (15-17).
Sears set the tone early with seven points in each of the first two quarters, and it became increasingly clear as the game progressed — and as she kept dominating — that Carmel didn’t have an answer. Libertyville extended its lead each quarter.
“We knew we were going to look for her today because she had such a size advantage,” Lindal said. “We try to do anything we can to get the ball to her when she’s open down there, and we’re constantly working on ways to do that. We’re really proud that she was able to get all of those points.”
Although Sears said her favorite shot is a midrange baseline jumper, all nine of her field goals against Carmel came within a couple of feet of the basket. She scored on putbacks, transition layups and dump-offs on quick possessions when Sears beat defenders up the court.
Sears also got to the free-throw line, making five of a team-high seven foul shots, which was a byproduct of her physical edge.
“Another big way I get a lot of my points is just by running,” she said. “I’ve gotten a lot better with that. I didn’t always used to be fast — not saying that I’m that fast now. But when someone else gets a rebound, you have to run and hustle. A lot of people just don’t hustle. Hustling is a huge part of everything.”
Sears, who entered the game averaging 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 55% from the field, is a great complement to Libertyville’s perimeter game featuring Lindal, Fisher and junior guard Sophia Swanson. Sears doesn’t get a ton of looks in the Wildcats’ set offense, but she makes the whole system work better.
“We run a little bit of a screening offense, and trying to get around Madison is a chore,” Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said. “She sacrifices a lot for our team. A lot of her job is to screen, box out, rebound, defend, and tonight her teammates just kept finding her in spots to be successful. It was just awesome.”
“Awesome” could also describe how Sears feels about the progression of her career. Rather than look at her freshman season as a bumpy one without much playing time, she views her formative days as learning experiences.
“My freshman year was amazing because I had a ton of great players to learn from, learning things like how to play with a team,” Sears said. “Sometimes basketball can be a very person-oriented game. But playing at Libertyville taught me how to be a good teammate, how to pass, everything.”
A big part of Sears’ overall effectiveness is her knack for guiding unclaimed rebounds into her waiting hands.
“That’s one thing I think I’ve gotten a lot better with is just knowing where to be when the ball is hot here, especially on long rebounds,” she said. “It’s predicting where the ball is going to go, and you have to be big and make contact. That’s the biggest thing when you’re playing inside.”
The biggest thing for the Wildcats, who beat Hononegah in a sectional championship game last season, is playing well as a unit.
“Players change every year, and you have to learn how to play with each other,” Sears said. “So I think that throughout the season, we’ve gotten a lot better playing together and playing unselfishly. When you do that, it’s so much fun.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
