Redemption for Levitt, Stevenson
His coach refused to blame him, saying, simply, his veteran senior guard had his "clunker." Jeff Levitt called it "probably my worst game of the year."
That was then. Just shy of two weeks ago.
On Wednesday night, Levitt and his Stevenson teammates did what no team has done since, well, Stevenson. The fifth-seeded Patriots knocked off red-hot Warren, on the Blue Devils' home court no less, 49-44 in the teams' Class 4A regional semifinal in Gurnee.
The victory for Stevenson (20-7), which earned the Patriots a berth in Friday's 7:30 p.m. regional final against No. 14 Hersey (16-12), avenged a 46-31 loss at Warren on Feb. 19. The Blue Devils' win on that Friday night helped forge a four-way tie for first place in the North Suburban Lake Division among Warren, Stevenson, Zion-Benton and Lake Forest.
For the first and only time this season, Levitt didn't score a single point.
"Jeff was about as disappointed as any kid after the last Warren game because he just didn't feel he played his best game," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said.
Said Levitt: "That was probably the low point for me for the season because that would have given us the outright conference championship, which I really wanted. (Warren) played great that night, and we didn't play very well."
The Patriots played well Wednesday night, and Levitt led the way. He topped all scorers with 16 points, including a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter and stretch Stevenson's lead to 35-29. His 2 free throws with 17.7 seconds to go helped keep 12th-seeded Warren (14-11) at bay.
"Tonight was fun," Levitt said a small smile. "I don't know what to say. It's a great thing to come up here and beat them on their home court in the playoffs. What more can you ask?"
Warren coach Chuck Ramsey, whose team had won 11 in a row since losing to Stevenson 55-53 on Jan. 15, appreciated Levitt's play.
"He played really well," Ramsey said. "He did a good job against our pressure and did a good job running the show for them. He played like a senior should in this circumstance."
Senior guard Marquise Thomas led Warren with 13 points, including a 3 with 28 seconds left to get the Blue Devils within 45-42.
But foul shooting ultimately sealed Warren's fate. The Blue Devils went 7 of 16 from the line in the fourth (8 of 18 overall).
"Free throws (hurt), and they were just prepared for everything we threw at them," Thomas said. "In the first half, we didn't have any points off our defense, and that's usually how we get our points."
Stevenson's defensive effort included holding Warren to 4 points in the second quarter, which helped erase a five-point deficit and give the Patriots a 21-18 lead by halftime.
"Defense," Levitt said. "That's been our constant the whole year. We kept this game in the 40s. That's all we wanted to do."
Mark Swanson's frontcourt steal, drive and finish gave Stevenson its largest lead, at 39-30, with 6:53 left in the fourth. The 5-foot-10 senior guard finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds.
"Seven rebounds?" said Ambrose, pleasantly shocked. "He's a weight-room guy. He's really bulked up this year and really played kind of more physical."
Kevin Earl added 10 points for Stevenson, while Nate Johnson had 7 points, 11 rebounds and a big fourth-quarter block.
Craig Burton scored 9 of his 10 points in the third quarter for Warren. Jeremiah Jackson scored 6 of his 9 points in the opening quarter.
"It was a very physical, tight ballgame," Ramsey said. "In some ways it was a test of toughness, and they were a little tougher than us. They got more loose balls than we did, and they shot free throws better than we did."