Stevenson ousts Lake Zurich
His voice starting to crack, Stevenson girls basketball coach Tom Dineen, overcome with joy for his players, removed his eyeglasses and dabbed a tear before it could slide down his cheek.
“I do have some emotions,” Dineen, managing a grin, said as he walked away to compose himself.
His team, too, had a delicate touch in its 52-34 win over the host school in Thursday night’s Class 4A Lake Zurich regional final. The victory gave the former Buffalo Grove coach his 26th regional title but first in his three years at Stevenson.
No player demonstrated a more deft hand than Patriots senior guard Olivia Whalen, who like teammates Kari Moffat, Katie Batman and Alex Elzinga has been with Dineen all three of his years at the Lincolnshire school.
Whalen scored 17 of her career-high 21 points in the first half, as Stevenson (23-7) bolted to an early lead and enjoyed a double-digit advantage for the majority of the night in earning a berth in Monday’s 6 p.m. sectional semifinal at Palatine against the winner of tonight’s game between Fremd and Zion-Benton.
In the opening half alone, Whalen shot 7 of 9 from the floor, making all 3 of her 3-point attempts.
“She was lights out,” Lake Zurich guard Maisie Cox said. “She shot really well. She had a really great game.”
Stevenson was determined to play great after losing to Lake Zurich 44-42 on Jan. 31. It was a defeat that cost the Patriots the outright North Suburban Lake Division championship and denied them a berth in the conference championship game.
“These kids were on a mission tonight,” Dineen said. “They came out and played an outstanding first half at both ends of the floor.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Batman (9 points) and Whalen had Stevenson up 6-2 early. Whalen later finished a fastbreak layup and pumped her fist after knocking down a baseline jumper that extended the Patriots’ lead to 10-4.
“Olivia’s a great shooter,” said Moffat, who had a great night herself, totaling 14 points, 7 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds and a blocked shot. “She’s really gotten a lot better with her shot. She’s really worked hard on it, and it’s paying off.”
Whalen, who started the night by advancing in the 3-point contest thanks to 7 made shots, remained hot in the second quarter. She hit two more 3s, and her pull-up 10-footer started a 6-0 run that had Stevenson up 29-13 at halftime.
Whalen, a midseason call-up as a freshman three years ago, needed only the first half to surpass her previous high-point game of 15.
“I felt it warming up for the 3-point (contest),” Whalen said. “I was hitting shots and it just transferred over to the game.”
Stevenson needed someone to step up against Lake Zurich (21-10), which had been playing as well as any team in Lake County in recent weeks. The Bears had won seven in a row and nine of their last 10 heading into Thursday.
“We knew we needed momentum going into the postseason,” said three-year varsity guard Katherine Anderson, who had 4 points, including a 3-pointer, and 4 rebounds in her final game as a Bear. “Our confidence was up. We won a couple of close games against good teams. We just kind of proved to ourselves that we could compete with anyone.”
Senior guard Cathryne Spear led Lake Zurich with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Four-year varsity forward Dori Darras had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.
“We beat them at their place, and I give their kids credit. They responded,” said coach Chris Bennett, whose Bears went 1-3 against Stevenson this season. “They made some adjustments and hit some shots. They did what you got to do to win a regional final.”
Stevenson, which hit 8 of 11 shots in the second quarter, led 36-23 after three. Moffat sank 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth.
“I am so proud of these kids,” said Dineen, whose team lost heartbreakers in the regional final the last two years. “They’ve never won anything, you know?”
Now they have.
“All of us played great, on defense and on offense, but especially on offense,” Whalen said. “We were getting open and cutting hard off screens.”