Batman, Stevenson edge Lake Zurich
Introduced as an all-tournament selection as Katie “Botman,” Katie Batman smiled and approached the scorer’s table to receive her medal.
“It’s Bat-MAN,” corrected Stevenson’s senior guard and good sport, who was repeatedly called “Bateman” by the PA announcer during the game.
The Patriots’ superhero saved the day for her team in the consolation championship game of the Suburban Holiday Showcase.
With Stevenson clinging to a 1-point lead, Batman stole a Lake Zurich pass, was immediately fouled and sank 2 free throws with 5.7 seconds left, giving the Patriots a 49-46 win Wednesday.
North Suburban Conference Lake-leading Stevenson (12-5) had beaten Lake Zurich 44-32 in a division showdown Dec. 17. The rivals meet again Jan. 31 at Stevenson.
“It was definitely a 32-minute ballgame,” Stevenson coach Tom Dineen said after his team rallied from an eight-point deficit after three quarters to finish 3-2 in the tournament. “There were a lot of spurts, up and down, by both teams, as there is every time we play Lake Zurich.”
Batman finished with 23 points, 3 shy of her season high. The MVP of Maine West’s Tip-Off Classic, she also had 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Her three 3-pointers all came in the second half, and her 9 points in the fourth quarter helped key Stevenson’s comeback.
The Patriots’ defense was also huge in the fourth. Dineen switched from a zone to a man-to-man midway through, and that played a large part in Lake Zurich turning the ball over 10 times in the quarter.
“It was uncharacteristic,” said Lake Zurich guard Maisie Cox, who had 10 points and held Patriots point guard Kari Moffat to 1 point. “Since we’re experienced, we always stress starting out strong and keeping that going throughout the game.”
Batman contributed a 3, runner and putback, as Stevenson opened the fourth with a 14-2 run, after starting the quarter down 38-30. Olivia Whalen drove the length of the court after stealing an inbounds pass and sank a layup to break a 40-40 tie with 3:10 left.
Lake Zurich regained the lead at 46-45 when Cathryne Spear (9 points) sank 2 free throws with 59 seconds to go, but Whalen knocked down a baseline jumper with 26 seconds on the clock after a steal and dish by Alex Elzinga.
“The fourth quarter, our team came out with a lot of enthusiasm,” Batman said. “When one girl would get a steal it fueled the rest of us. It was a team effort at the end.”
Lake Zurich sank only 2 shots in getting outscored 19-8 in the fourth.
“We usually do pretty well against man teams,” Bears coach Chris Bennett said. “The irony is, they all of a sudden go man and we start turning the ball over. It’s funny how the game works out sometimes. I give (Stevenson) credit. ... They got up in our faces, made us throw some bad passes, got some turnovers, and it turned the game around for them.”
Elzinga and Whalen each scored 8 points for Stevenson. Whalen came off the bench for the second straight game, tallied 4 points in the fourth and finished with 3 steals.
“She played very, very well,” Dineen said. “I thought she was real active again tonight.”
Dori Darras scored a team-high 12 points for Lake Zurich (10-6, 2-3), which lost for the fifth time in seven games.Stephanie Schmid, who was coming off a career-high 25 points against Barrington, had 7 points and represented Lake Zurich on the all-tournament team. The Bears spotted the Patriots an 8-0 lead, but led 21-20 by halftime.#147;It was a good ballgame,#148; Bennett said. #147;I think our kids know each other pretty well. You have the conference rivalry, and we just played for first place two weeks ago. They wanted to send a message that they#146;re better than we are, and we wanted to send a message that our loss (Dec. 17) was a fluke.#147;I don#146;t know which one of us got their message out, but it#146;s going to be a fun game Jan. 31.#148;