Richardson to the rescue as Stevenson stops Zion-Benton
It had been a while, Stevenson girls basketball coach Ashley Graham said, since she had seen a performance like Ashley Richardson's. Graham was so impressed that she claimed she was speechless.
When told of her coach's compliment, Richardson nearly blushed.
"Wow," the junior and three-year varsity point guard said with a smile. "I'm honored."
"Wow" summed up Richardson's play against visiting Zion-Benton, as she nearly single-handedly rallied Stevenson to a 59-53 win in Friday night's North Suburban Lake Division showdown. Richardson scored a career-high 28 points, sinking five 3-pointers. Four of her 3s came after Zion-Benton took a 12-point lead midway through the third quarter.
"I felt like she just carried us on her shoulders in that second half," Graham said after her Patriots (9-2, 5-0) ran their winning streak to eight games, while snapping the six-game winning streak of Zion-Benton (7-3, 4-1).
"She's a warrior. She's exhausted, and we're running play after play after play to get her the ball and get her open. She did a great job."
Things didn't look so great for Stevenson after Raven Morris sank a basket in the lane to put Zion-Benton up 39-27 with 3:58 left in the third quarter. It capped an 18-4 run, which included Marquitta Easley stealing the ball at half-court and completing a three-point play with nine seconds left in the first half to put the Zee-Bees up 26-23.
Stevenson scored the final eight points of the third, getting a three-point play by Jessica Burke with no time left to cut the Patriots' deficit to 39-35.
Richardson knocked down a 3-pointer 16 seconds into the fourth, and a layup by Klaire Steffens (10 points, 10 rebounds) finished off a 13-0 run for the hosts.
It was 44-44 when Stevenson defensive ace Janine Fajardo sank her only basket of the night, a 3-pointer, with 3:37 left. Richardson gave Fajardo the pass and then sank her third 3 of the quarter to make it 50-44 with three minutes left.
"We weren't switching screens correctly," Easley said. "We got nailed a few times."
Graham couldn't have been more impressed with her veteran floor leader. Richardson shot 8 of 16 from the floor, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.
"The way in which she did it was so special," Graham said.
Richardson scored 13 points in the fourth, as the Patriots outscored the Zee-Bees 24-14 in the quarter.
"We fell apart," said Easley, who led Zion-Benton with 13 points. "We weren't connecting with each other. We had some unforced turnovers and let them get wide-open shots."
Burke (8 points) was clutch down the stretch, making 5 of 6 free throws in the final 36 seconds to keep the visitors from getting no closer than three points.
"The team just came together the best we have in a really long time, maybe even (including) last year," Richardson said. "Jessica Burke's free throws at the end were so big, Janine's energy was big, Kiana (Cencula) was getting some rebounds at the end, and Klaire was big. I just think everybody contributed to the win. It wasn't just me."
Zion-Benton also got double-digit scoring from Krystal Walker (12 points), T.T. Maggett (10) and Niquera Short (10), who made two 3-pointers.
"They're definitely quicker than us - or at least quicker than me," Richardson said. "But I thought our defense picked it up at the end. We got the stops when we needed to get them."