Stevenson holds off Libertyville for first home win

Before Saturday night's boys basketball game between host Stevenson and Libertyville, public address announcer John Nowicki had a wish.

"Between the freshman boys, girls varsity and boys varsity basketball teams, I haven't seen a winning game in nine games," he said. "I would love to break this losing streak."

Nowicki got his wish.

The Patriots held on for a 59-49 victory in a North Suburban Conference Lake Division game.

It was the first home win of the season for Stevenson (4-2, 1-1).

"After a terrific first half, we didn't focus ourselves in the locker room and didn't come out with the same sort of intensity that we did in the first half," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "We definitely didn't come out with the same sharpness that we did in the first half."

Libertyville outscored Stevenson 37-32 in the second half.

"I felt that the second half was terrific," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil, whose Wildcats fell to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the NSC Lake.

"We played great defensively and we got some baskets in transition. We got within six twice but we just couldn't convert. It was inexcusable the way we started. We were lackluster on both ends of the floor and Stevenson is just too good of a team to come out like we did."

Stevenson was in charge most of the first half in building a 27-12 lead.

But in the beginning of the third quarter, Libertyville came alive both on offense and defense.

The Wildcats started to chip away at the lead and got within 49-43 with less than five minutes left in the fourth.

But Mike Goldstein sank a foul shot and Jeffery Levitt followed with two more shots to give the Patriots the victory.

Stevenson's Dylan Richter led all scorers with 15 points.

"The first half we played real well on defense and we got a lot of rebounds," Richter said. "In the second half, we didn't get as many and that's what hurt us."

Daniel Rebnord chipped in 10 points and 9 rebounds for Stevenson.

For the Wildcats, Jeremy Letchford scored 12 points of his 14 points in the third quarter. Joey Aiello added 12, including two 3-pointers.

"If we had played in the first half like we did in the second half, we would have won the game," Letchford said. "In the second half, we came out with a lot more intensity."