Stevenson turns tables on Warren
Stevenson turned the North Suburban Conference race topsy-turvy with its 70-67 home overtime win over Warren Tuesday night.
The win over the Blue Devils made up for a 21-point loss earlier in the season.
"I thought we had played hard against them last time," said Stevenson coach Will Benson. "We did not execute real well in that game. They threw the first punch and soon the game was over. I thought if we could be physical and be close in the fourth quarter we would have a chance. A lot of good stuff happened for us tonight. We really improved over the last time. This was fun to watch."
The grueling contest was not settled until Atticus Richmond sank two free throws with :03 left in the overtime.
Warren’s Jaxson Davis had just converted two free throws to make the score 68-67 with :05 left.
Warren (20-4, 6-2) led 57-53 in regulation on Javerion Banks’ putback basket.
However, Armand Burris sank one of two free throws, then Jack Dabbs (27 points, 7 steals) stole the ball to score to pull the Patriots (15-6, 5-3) to within 57-56 with 1:03 left.
Jack Wolf’s basket gave Warren a 59-56 lead with :54 left, but Richmond hit one of two free throws to make it 59-57.
Liam Curtis came up with a steal with :20 left and Aidan Bardic (18 pts.) scored on a pull-up shot in the lane and was fouled for Stevenson. Bardic missed the free throw with :11 left and Warren missed two shots in an attempt to win the game.
Warren, who hosts Lake Zurich on Friday night, led 16-10 after the first quarter and looked to be in control after Davis connected on a three-point basket for a 19-10 lead. Davis would finish with 31 points.
"This win was a big one for us," said Dabbs. "We started off the season kind of struggling getting used to a new coach and some new players on varsity. Jaxson Davis is a great player and he just killed us in the first half. We wanted to win this game real bad. I got my three-point shots going and it just opened up my whole game. We moved the ball well and we we do that we are at our best."
Dabbs then caught fire scoring 14 of Stevenson's 25 points in the quarter. The Patriots hit 9 of 12 shots including 6 three point baskets. With Richmond clearing the backboards Stevenson scored the last six points of the quarter to pull to within 36-35.
Stevenson mustered a 50-45 lead to finish the third quarter getting six points from Bardic.
Stevenson almost shot themselves in the foot hitting only 11 of 21 free throws and missing 8 of those in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Braylon Walker scored 13 for the Blue Devils and Banks had 10 points.
Rocco Pagliocca notched 15 points and Richmond 8 for the Patriots.