Wood, Stevenson stop Palatine
The “O” in Brion Wood’s first name doesn’t suggest that he boasts offense.
Still, while Wood delivered the wood in football as an all-state linebacker, on the basketball court Wednesday, he provided one of the better offensive plays of the night in defensive-minded Stevenson’s 60-49 nonconference win over visiting Palatine.
“He’s more like a physical, bruising guy,” teammate Ryan Chapman said. “His ups aren’t really there.”
Oh, but Wood’s athleticism, if not his vertical jump, was apparent early in the fourth quarter when Chapman spotted him running hard to the basket in transition. Chapman lobbed an alley-oop pass to Wood, who caught the ball in the air and dropped it in the basket to hike Stevenson’s lead to 44-25.
“We practice that a lot, but with the taller kids — the leapers — not so much with me,” Wood said with a laugh. “We usually shy away from throwing the lobs to me. But Ryan Chapman found me and made a great pass.”
It was the lone basket for the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Wood, who’s going to play Ivy League football for Penn. He and Chapman shared a smile hustling back on defense after their successful alley-oop.
“I saw Brion open underneath the basket,” Chapman said. “He’s one of my good friends so I wanted to get him the ball. ... It was an exciting play. We usually don’t get alley-oops like that.”
Stevenson (13-11), which won its fourth straight to match its season-best winning streak, later led by 20 in the fourth quarter. Palatine (9-15) got within 56-49 on a free throw by Peter Bony with 54.9 seconds left, but 4 free throws down the stretch closed out the win for the Patriots.
Stevenson had taken control of the game in the second quarter by outscoring Palatine 21-5 to take a 34-17 lead into halftime. The Patriots shot 8 of 13 in the quarter compared to the Pirates’ 2 of 14.
John Millin’s 16 points paced Palatine. Bony, Egan Malley and Kurt Becker each had eight. Bony and Malley hit two 3-pointers apiece.
“We played a bad second quarter,” Pirates coach Eric Millstone said. “At this point of the season, when you play good teams, if you have a bad quarter, that’s going to cost you. But our kids did battle. They responded well at halftime, and we finished on a good note.”
Mike Fleming’s 16 points led four Stevenson players in double figures. Troy Radtke came off the bench to score 9 of his 15 points (two 3-pointers) in the first half. Chapman (two 3s) and Kevin Earl added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Colby Cashaw, the Patriots’ 6-foot-6 junior, blocked 3 shots and grabbed 6 rebounds.
“We played a good first half,” Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. “The second half we didn’t play as well, but credit Palatine that they didn’t give up and they played a better second half.”
Stevenson led 42-25 after three and its defense has been solid during its winning streak.
“We’re clicking a little more,” Wood said. “We’re having a good time. We just don’t want it to end.”