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Motivated Stevenson handles Lake Zurich

Sometime after halftime but before he threw down a pair of one-handed dunks seconds apart in the third quarter on Lake Zurich's court, Jalen Brunson received the sweet news.

No school Wednesday due to expected sub-zero-degree temperatures.

"We were walking out of a huddle and I remember (teammate) Parker (Nichols) telling me," Brunson said. "It got me hyped."

Sweeter news for Stevenson?

The Patriots went into their "one-day break" by beating Lake Zurich 71-41 in the two teams' North Suburban Conference Lake Division showdown Tuesday night.

Brunson's game-high 24 points (two 3-pointers), 4 assists and 4 rebounds led the way. Connor Cashaw added 21 points, as Stevenson showed no jet lag or letdown after a weekend trip to play in the prestigious Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling, W. Va., where the Patriots split a pair of games.

"We went after it hard," said Stevenson guard Matt Johnson, who scored 9 points on three 3-pointers and also took 2 charges. "We had the day off Sunday and went hard in practice Monday. Coach prepared us for this game, and we definitely came out with effort."

Stevenson (13-1, 4-0) knew it had to bring its best effort since Lake Zurich (12-3, 2-3) came in riding a five-game winning streak. Like the Patriots, the Bears have won both Thanksgiving and Christmas tournaments this season.

"It was really important because we just came back from a long road trip," Brunson said. "This probably would have been a good time for them to upset us."

Instead, Lake Zurich never got into a rhythm shooting the ball. Bears forward Nick Meyer (10 points, 10 rebounds) sank a layup four seconds into the game, but Brunson's step-back 3 started an 8-0 run and Stevenson kept extending the lead.

Brunson's reverse layup put the visitors up 18-9, before Lake Zurich's Jack O'Neill hit a baseline jumper to beat the first-quarter buzzer.

Lake Zurich shot just 4 of 14 from the floor in the first quarter and 3 of 12 in the second. Mike Travlos (team-high 17 points) tried to keep Lake Zurich close by draining back-to-back 3s late in the half.

"We had to knock down open shots," said coach Billy Pitcher, whose Bears trailed 34-21 at halftime. "We're a really good-shooting team. We just couldn't hit them tonight."

Meyer opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, but Brunson answered immediately with one of his own. Later in the quarter, with Stevenson up 44-28, Brunson drove and dunked with one hand. Twenty seconds later, Justin Smith (6 points) stole the ball and fed Brunson for another one-handed jam.

"You can't make mistakes against them," Pitcher said. "Making a few turnovers and missing open shots are our mistakes."

Ryan Aoki's basket from three-quarters court came a half-second after the third-quarter buzzer, but Stevenson still led 55-33.

"We didn't look great in the first half, but we came out stronger (after halftime) and got the game going a little bit faster for a while," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "(Lake Zurich) is a good team, a good-shooting team. We gave them some open 3s in the first half, especially in transition. We didn't find Travlos, and part of our plan was not to give him open looks."

Images: Lake Zurich vs. Stevenson, boys basketball

  Lake Zurich's Nick Meyer, left, drives on Stevenson's Jalen Brunson on Tuesday night at Lake Zurich. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Stevenson's Matt Johnson, left, shoots over Lake Zurich's Nick Penny on Tuesday night at Lake Zurich. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Stevenson's Parker Nichols, right, shoots over Lake Zurich's Will McClaughry on Tuesday night at Lake Zurich. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Stevenson's Ryan Rosenbaum, center, is trapped by Lake Zurich's Tim Spears, left, and Will McClaughry on Tuesday night at Lake Zurich High School. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
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