O'Brien, Simon lead undefeated Pats

Stevenson's girls basketball team is showing some resiliency and character.

The Patriots let a 14-point lead late in the third quarter disappear, but recovered for a 50-46 victory over Hersey at the Maine West Tip-Off Classic on Friday.

Michelle O'Brien scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Stevenson. Kelsey Simon added 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

"Good teams are definitely going to make runs at you and Hersey is a good team," Stevenson coach Trish Betthauser said. "We made a few mistakes in the fourth quarter handling their pressure, but we never really let them break our back and that was important. Our kids finished well."

The Patriots improved to 3-0, while handing Hersey (2-1) its first loss.

It's the Patriots' first 3-0 start in Betthauser's three seasons as head coach.

"It's nice," Betthauser said. "One thing about this group, they're extremely competitive and they take things seriously."

Simon put the Patriots up for good, breaking a tie by making the second of two free throws with 41 seconds remaining.

"There was a lot of pressure and I had to keep my composure," Simon said. "I was able to pull through on the second free throw. It was a pretty big game. You want to start strong and finish strong."

O'Brien added two free throws with 25 seconds left and Courtney Graber sank another with eight seconds to go.

O'Brien scored 14 points in the second quarter, helping Stevenson go into halftime with a 29-18 lead.

"I've got more confidence than last year," said O'Brien, who started as a freshman on varsity last season. "I'm just trying to do my part."

Hersey cut its deficit to 40-33 heading into the final quarter. The Huskies eventually tied the game at 46-46 with 52 seconds left.

"We have the pieces, but (Stevenson's) zone lulled us to sleep a bit," Hersey coach Mary Fendley said. "We were a little more aggressive in the second half. I think the press bothered (Stevenson) a bit and got us going."

Megan Rogowski scored 7 of her team-high 15 points during Hersey's fourth-quarter the run, and her sister Kelly added 11 points. They played the game with heavy hearts, as their grandmother, Rose Kingsley, passed away earlier in the week.