Stevenson gets by Warren ... but barely

Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose tried to find the best way to describe the epidemic that struck the Patriots boys basketball team in their North Suburban Conference Lake Division tilt against visiting Warren on Friday night.

Having to deal with the young pesky Blue Devils was one problem Stevenson had to contend with throughout the contest. But the biggest problem and one that seemed to hit just about every player on the Patriots roster was foul shooting.

In a word, it was foul.

"We struggled from the line but we just couldn't let it get the best of us," Ambrose said.

Despite shooting just 12 of 24 from the free-throw line, Stevenson still had enough to hold off a last-second shot from Warren and hang on for a key 55-53 win.

Stevenson remains in the race for NSC Lake Division lead at 4-2, and the Patriots are 11-5 overall.

With the loss, Warren fell to 3-10, 2-4.

"It's one of those things where we will come to shoot around tomorrow and work on free throw shooting and try and put it behind us," Ambrose said. "The guys looked at the scoreboard tonight, saw that we won and were still like 'we won but.' "

The hosts looked like they would pull away from Warren to start the fourth quarter.

A series of bizarre plays and a technical foul helped Stevenson pull out to its biggest lead of the night at 49-40 with 4:46 to play.

Since the free-throw shooting wasn't working, the Patriots went long-range and sophomore Michael Fleming and senior Mark Swanson took advantage.

Fleming nailed his second 3-pointer of the night off a perfect feed from Nate Johnson (5 assists) to open the 9-point cushion. Johnson led all scorers with 16 points.

"I have played a lot with Nate both at Stevenson and away from Stevenson," said Fleming, who finished with 9 points. "I know that defenses will collapse on Nate and I and (Mark) need to be ready."

Much like they had all night, the Blue Devils came back, mounting a run with 6 straight points to pull within 49-46 with 2:33 to play on a long 3-pointer from sophomore Darius Paul (9 points).

"I was real proud of our young guys," said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey. "Tonight was one of our better efforts."

Stevenson couldn't shake off the pesky Devils down the stretch, and senior guard Marquise Thomas was a big reason why.

Thomas scored 8 of his team-best 15 points in the fourth quarter - including a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to pull warren within 55-53.

"I thought Marquise had an outstanding week of practice and tonight it carried over into the game," Ramsey said.

The Patriots had one final chance to ice the game with 14 seconds remaining, but a pair of missed free throws set up Warren with one final chance.

But a long 3-point attempt bounced away to end the threat.