Stevenson holds off Meadows

Stevenson was in good shape when it kept the ball in its hands Saturday night.

Rolling Meadows was in good shape when Richie Kemph had the ball in his hands in the nonconference boys basketball game.

Four players in double figures and a commanding rebounding advantage allowed visiting Stevenson pull off a 54-44 victory despite 27 turnovers and 31 points from Kemph.

"We tried to share the ball and we were willing to share it," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said somewhat ruefully of doing that too much with Meadows. "We had the gift of giving tonight."

But the Patriots (15-10) survived as they nearly received three double-doubles from 6-foot-5 senior Jeff Arenson (17 points, 11 rebounds), 6-2 junior Nate Johnson (10 points, 12 rebounds) and 6-6 senior Henry Wood (12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks).

"We always try to really emphasize boxing out and getting rebounds," Wood said of the Patriots' 38-15 advantage. "(Friday night's 52-39 loss to Lake Zurich) we didn't do a good job of that.

"At the shootaround today the coaches were on us to box out."

The Patriots also hit 15 of their first 19 shots en route to a 32-19 lead two minutes into the second half. Arenson's tip-in capped a 12-1 burst.

Wood hit all 6 of his shots and 6-6 senior Grant Johnson came off the bench to hit all 5 of his shots for 11 points as the Patriots finished 25-for-41 (61 percent) from the floor.

"Some of it was being patient and some of it knowing when to pick our spots to push it," Wood said. "A lot of it was just us being smart and knowing when to push it and when to pull it back."

Kemph, who scored 41 against Wheeling in December, was 10-for-18 from the field and 6-for-14 on 3-pointers. But the rest of the Mustangs (12-13) were 4-for-31 from the floor and 2-for-16 behind the arc.

Kemph's 3 off a turnover got Meadows within 36-31 with 2:49 left in the third but it scored only 1 point off Stevenson's last 9 miscues.

"We kept fighting hard and kept trying," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. "We did a nice job with (getting turnovers) but we didn't convert on the other end. When you get those turnovers you have to convert."