Dineen's Stevenson squad clips McAuley

Stevenson junior forward Michelle O'Brien, a three-year varsity starter, still remembers when her Patriots girls basketball team got "whomped," as she put it, by Buffalo Grove two years ago.

Never did she think two years later her coach would be Tom Dineen, who was at the time coaching the Elite Eight Bison squad.

Now, the retired Dineen is O'Brien's coach, and she couldn't be happier.

"It's awesome," she said. "I still remember getting whomped by his team. He's amazing. He's so smart about everything. He has so much experience. He knows what's going on with every play."

O'Brien was certainly part of many plays Wednesday night in Des Plaines when the Patriots opened play against Mother McAuley in the Maine West Tip-Off Classic.

The junior forward scored a game-high 22 points and hit the decisive free throws in the final 28 seconds which lifted the Pats to a 63-59 triumph over Mother McAuley (2-1).

It was Dineen's first win since directing BG to the Loyola University supersectional title two years ago.

The Patriots lost their season opener last Saturday to Marist by 2 points in Lincolnshire.

"Oh my God," said O'Brien, who also had 10 rebounds. "It feels fantastic to get our first win. We've put in so much hard work in practice that it's great to see it paying off."

Mother McAuley's best payout Wednesday was senior reserve guard Meg Murphy, who connected for six 3-pointers and 19 points.

She did not play in the Mighty Macs' first two wins over Mt. Assissi and Sandburg because of an Achilles' heel injury.

McAuley, which led by as many as 7 points in the first half, was ahead 57-54 with 4:27 left in the game.

A steal and layup by junior Anna Morrissey gave the Pats a 58-57 lead with 3:52 left.

Trailing 59-57, O'Brien drove to the basket and stopped for layup to tie the game with 1:35 left.

With 28 seconds left, O'Brien hit the 2 decisive free throws.

Stevenson center Kelsey Simon (7 rebounds, 9 points) blocked her eighth shot and McAuley missed a 14-footer in the final 15 seconds.

O'Brien then sealed the decision with 2 more free throws with 8.8 seconds left.

"Good teams and good players play well down the stretch and I thought we did that," Dineen said. "Michelle hit some big free throws for us at the end."

Morrissey finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists while freshman point guard Kari Moffat had 6 points and 8 assists.

"We overcame a lot of turnovers in the first half," Dineen said. "We also made some poor decisions with the ball and were poor at the free throw line."

Junior Syndey Davis came off the bench and scored 11 points.

"Sydney gave us a good spark off the bench defensively and in turn, she was rewarded with some layups," Dineen said.