Tourney test may help Pats

The Stevenson boys water polo team has shown flashes of stellar play this season, but the Patriots have not performed with enough consistency.

With the state playoffs beginning next week, the Patriots (14-12) hope they will be able to look back at their performance last weekend as a key turning point in the season.

The Stevenson Tournament, in some ways, is a preview of the state tournament because so many of the best teams in Illinois compete. The Patriots won their first two matches Friday and gave Brother Rice a tough match before losing big to Fenwick in their last game.

"It was a very successful tournament for our team," coach Sean Wimer said. "It was probably the second or third time I've really seen the boys get up to play some water polo. (Hopefully), it's a precursor of things to come."

The Patriots were forced to retool their lineup recently when Duncan Partridge left the team to focus on his swimming. Stevenson retooled quickly and enjoyed impressive victories over New Trier 8-6 and Oak Park 10-8 on the first day of the tournament. Against Oak Park, Jamie Clark (4 goals) and Ali Khan (3 goals) had big offensive performances.

On Saturday, the Patriots put a scare into Brother Rice, the No. 3 team in the latest Illpolo.com Poll. The Patriots led 4-3 at one point before falling 8-6. Wimer said Greg Spigelman played particularly strong defense. Fenwick, the state's top ranked team, topped Stevenson 14-2.

Stevenson plays host to a mini tournament this weekend before turning its focus to the playoffs.

"We've had an up-and-down season, but we're starting to rally together," Wimer said.

Mustangs go 2-2 in tourney: Like Stevenson, Mundelein also had a 2-2 record in the tournament.

The Mustangs, though, who earned a No. 1 sectional seed, did not quite play at the level they were accustomed to.

"We were a little disappointed," coach Rahul Sethna said. "We need a better showing at this time of the year, but the (positive) was that we figured out what we need to work on prior to sectionals."

Mundelein scored victories over Palatine (11-4) and New Trier (8-3). Ricky Lukacs and Pat Falconer each scored three times against Palatine. Kevin Coughlin was superb in goal (6 saves, 8 steals) against New Trier.

The Mustangs fell 8-5 to Brother Rice and 12-5 against Naperville Central.

"Brother Rice scored on a couple of man-up opportunities," Sethna said. "It was a good game. We had our chances to win."