Stevenson 52, Lake Zurich 32

Following a tough road loss to Evanston last Saturday night, Stevenson found itself mired in a three-game losing streak and looking for answers.

Friday night at Lake Zurich in a North Suburban Lake Division battle, Stevenson found just what it was looking for.

The Patriots showed flashes of the form that earned them a fourth-place finish in state last season as they used tremendous defense and efficient offense to roll over the Bears 52-32.

"Tonight we were mentally tougher and just ready to go," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "We broke it down in practice this week about winning all the small battles and how that would lead us to winning the big ones."

Stevenson (10-6, 4-2) assumed control of the game midway through the first quarter and never looked back. It started with stingy defense by Michael Goldstein and Todd Siegel on Lake Zurich leading scorer Connor Mooney.

Mooney, who was red-hot in earning all-tournament honors at Pekin over Christmas, was held to just five shots and no points. Mooney didn't attempt a shot after the first quarter.

"(Mooney) is a heck of a player and a great shooter," Ambrose said. "I thought that Michael and Todd and even Kevin (Stineman), Dylan (Richter) and Dan (Rebnord) all did a great job not letting him get good looks."

While Mooney and the Bears struggled to score, Stevenson couldn't miss. The Patriots scored 16 straight points from the middle of the first quarter until the early stages of the second quarter to blow the game open.

Lake Zurich (8-9, 0-6) scored just 11 first half points and had only 17 through three quarters.

"I never anticipated what I saw tonight," Lake Zurich coach John Zarr said. "I give credit to Stevenson some, but we just didn't come out and play well. I mean, can you remember any Lake Zurich team that had only 11 points at halftime?"

The Patriots held Lake Zurich to only 5 first-half field goals, while Richter, Rebnord and the offense were feeling just fine, or as Goldstein put it, "alive."

"We came in losing three in a row and we knew Lake Zurich was a good team because they had been playing well," Goldstein said. "I just think, we came out and wanted to play well -- we just came out and looked alive."

Richter led all scorers with 18 points, including 11 in the first half. Rebnord had a solid all-around game, adding 9 points and 5 boards. Goldstein chipped in 10 points, including a pair of long 3-pointers.

Brandon Kunz and Dan Coleman both had 12 points to lead Lake Zurich