Levitt, Stevenson win footrace against Elgin

Jeff Levitt took a fall slipping while walking out on the court during introductions Tuesday night.

Levitt just laughed and looked at his shoes.

Once the game started, it took a while for Levitt and his Stevenson basketball teammates to find their footing, but when they did, they ran away with a 72-41 victory over Elgin on the second day of the Bison Classic in Buffalo Grove.

"I think it was wet underneath the bench and I caught some water on my shoes," Levitt said on his harmless slip. "It wasn't too much fun. It wasn't a good way to start the game off."

Stevenson started out slow compared to its 95-45, opening-night win over Trinity on Monday.

The Patriots (2-0) turned the ball over nine times in the opening quarter but still held a 13-11 lead.

Stevenson held a 18-16 advantage midway through the second quarter when Levitt scored 4 of his game-high 12 points during a 15-5 run.

The burst over the final four minutes had Stevenson up 33-21 at the break.

"We needed to come out and play the game better," said Levitt, who also had 3 steals. "Our heads were not prepared for it. We picked things up, clearly. I knew we had to get things going and our defense is usually what does it. I was able to capitalize on those steals."

Stevenson outscored Elgin 21-10 in the third quarter and extended its lead to 56-31 going into the fourth.

"We've got to make sound decisions and play better," said Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose, whose team had only 3 turnovers in the second and third quarters. "We play a defensive game. We're solid at one end and that makes our offense flow."

The Patriots' Nate Johnson added 10 points.

Elgin (0-2) was led by Brandon Baymon with 10 points and Tim Newcombe with nine.

The Maroons were in the game for a second straight night, but turnovers and mistakes took them out of it quickly. They compiled 23 turnovers.

"We seem to start off fine," Elgin coach Mike Sitter said. "It's a matter of keeping our control or poise. Once we have breakdowns, it kind of snowballs on us. We can be up four and then be down by 15 in a minute. We have to fight through our mistakes."