Johnson, Stevenson handle Lake Zurich

If this keeps up, Nate Johnson's decision about where to go to college is going to keep getting tougher.

His head is spinning as it is.

Loving football and basketball equally, and being good enough in both to be able to play either at the next level, Johnson isn't sure what he's going to do when it's time to make a decision.

The Stevenson senior had a stellar football season in the fall at wide receiver and began to think that was going to make his decision a whole lot easier.

But games like he had against Lake Zurich on Saturday, sure do keep basketball in the picture.

Johnson, a 6-foot-3 guard/forward, poured in a game-high 23 points, which included 3 three-pointers and a 6-for-7 clip from the free throw line, to lead visiting Stevenson to a 54-43 North Suburban Conference Lake Division victory over Lake Zurich.

The Patriots improve to 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the Lake Division while Lake Zurich drops to 1-14 (0-5 Lake).

"It's going to be a tough decision for me," Johnson said about his football/basketball choice after the game. "I'm just trying to enjoy the season. But I am thinking about it. I just really don't know right now."

But Johnson was certain about how Stevenson finally managed to pull away from pesky Lake Zurich. With defense.

The game was tied (21-21) at halftime, and Stevenson took a slim 40-38 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Lake Zurich, which has been struggling with its shooting all season, was having much more success on the offensive end than usual. The Bears shot 53 percent in the first half, more than 20 points better than its average, to stay in the game.

But Lake Zurich fell back into its old ways in the fourth quarter, perhaps partly because of Stevenson's tough defense.

The Bears didn't score a single field goal in the fourth, missing on all nine of their attempts. They scored just 5 points on free throws while Stevenson closed out with 14 fourth-quarter points.

"We take a lot of pride in our defense and we just wanted to finish the game out," Johnson said. "We wanted to shut the door on them and take away some things they like to do."

The Bears were having a blast getting the ball to senior Aaron Lewandowski. He finished with a team-high 16 points and was a monster on the boards, but he tallied only 4 of his points in the fourth quarter, all on free throws.

"We just can't string together a full game," Lewandowski said. "We have to keep working. They were just pressuring us more (in the fourth quarter) and we couldn't get the ball in the hoop."

Lake Zurich did get double-figures from senior Marko Grcic, who finished with 10 points. But overall, the Bears got scoring from a total of just four players.

Although Johnson was its only double-figure scorer, Stevenson put seven players in the scorebook with points.

"We got some fast breaks in the second half that helped us get some scores," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "We clamped down on defense and I think Lake Zurich may have gotten a little tired, too. We were able to capitalize on that."

Stevenson got 8 points from Mark Swanson and 7 points from Jeff Levitt, who normally starts but played a reserve role because he's coming off an illness and a minor injury.