Improved Stevenson edges York to finish 3-1 at Palatine
In the final minute of Saturday afternoon's Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic boys basketball game between Stevenson and York at Palatine, Stevenson junior guard Aidan Bardic hit the floor hard on a hustle play.
His left elbow didn't feel right moments later.
"It was a weird feeling," the 6-foot-3 Patriot recalled. "That's why I kept shaking my arm."
Stevenson enjoyed a feel-good moment 36 seconds later, after it had shaken off York's spirited effort en route to a 53-50 victory. The highly competitive contest was tied at 37 after three quarters, and Stevenson (3-1 in the tourney) held leads of 49-44, 51-46 and 52-47 in the final frame.
A 3-pointer by York senior wing Brendan Molis cut the Pats' advantage to 52-50 with only 8 ticks remaining.
Bardic, who tallied 9 of his 14 points in the final 8 minutes, hit a free throw 2 seconds later for the final point of the game.
Dukes senior wing Kyle Waltz's trey attempt - launched right before the buzzer sounded - glanced off the left side of the rim.
"That's a very good team," Stevenson first-year coach Will Benson said of York, which split its four tourney games. "I liked our ball movement; it was much better than it was in our previous game (a loss Friday to eventual champion Glenbrook South). "Our rebounding was better today. Our defense was better.
"Our fight was better."
The better shooting team in the first quarter was York. The Dukes netted 6 of their first 7 shots from the field, getting 9 points from Waltz, 3 from senior guard and Penn recruit A.J. Levine and a field goal from senior post player Braden Richardson.
But they led only 14-11. Stevenson sophomore guard Rocco Pagliocca poured in 8 of his 15 points, including a pair of 3s, and 6-6 senior Jack Dabbs (15 points, game-high 9 rebounds) struck for a triple - the first of his game-best 5 from beyond the arc.
York went up 26-19 at 1:07 of the second quarter. Half a minute later, Bardic's only offensive rebound ignited The Aidan Bardic Show, rated PG (Profusely Gallant). He nailed a 3 after his board, with 29 seconds left in the first half, and then raced to hit a reverse layup 28 seconds later. Bardic dished the assists on consecutive baskets from Dabbs (trey) and junior forward Atticus Richmond (dunk!) at the outset of the third quarter.
Bardic's fingerprints were all over that 10-0 run.
"We have complete trust in Aidan," Dabbs said.
"We made adjustments at halftime and played with more energy in the second half," Bardic said. "We also stuck together."
Neither team enjoyed a lead bigger than 4 points in the third quarter.
Waltz paced all scorers with 16 points. Molis tallied 8 of his 13 points - 6 via 3s - in the final quarter, and Levine finished with 11. York's Richardson totaled 10 points and 4 rebounds.
"We left a lot of points out on the floor," Dukes coach Mike Dunn said. "We missed layups, block-outs. We had opportunities. It came down to hustle plays, such as winning 50-50 balls; Stevenson won more of those than we did.
"This was a great tournament to start a season," he added. "Glenbrook South, Stevenson, Palatine - all very good teams."
Stevenson senior guard Armand Burris contributed 5 points. Teammate Richmond wound up with 4 points and 6 boards.
"We found a way to win," Benson said. "We showed, after our first week of action, we can be a pretty good team. It'll be nice, not having to play again until next Saturday.
"We need the break, need a breather."
All-tourney picks: Glenbrook South senior forward Nick Taylor was named Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic MVP. Teammate Anestis Hadjistamoulou, a junior guard, also earned all-tourney honors. The other honorees were Connor May (Palatine), Jackson Hupp (Hersey), A.J. Levine (York) and Jack Dabbs (Stevenson).
GBS captured the six-team title with a 4-0 record.