Boys basketball: Krishnarajah doesn’t give clutch 3-pointer a second thought in Stevenson win

At a pivotal moment in Friday night’s Lake Zurich-Stevenson boys basketball clash in Lincolnshire, Stevenson reserve senior guard Karthik Krishnarajah’s mind went blank.

The 5-foot-9 Patriot — planted in 3-point territory, with his team up 45-43 at the 3:42 mark of the third quarter — had just caught a sizzling crosscourt pass from classmate Aidan Albrecht.

“I didn’t think as I shot the ball,” he said.

The ball hit nothing but net (Krish does rhyme with swish), Stevenson allowed only a field goal for the rest of the quarter, and the Patriots notched a 54-45 victory in the North Suburban Conference opener for both teams.

“Amazing pass from Aidan, right in the pocket,” said Krishnarajah of the fastball that preceded his only points of the game.

Several hoopsters in addition to Krishnarajah and Albrecht (11 points, team-high 10 rebounds) lifted Stevenson (3-1, 1-0 in the NSC) Friday night. Senior guard Donovan Williams poured in a game-high 19 points (12 via the trey) and blocked a shot with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter; senior guard Rocco Pagliocca finished with 14 points, including 6 free throws in the final period, when Stevenson outscored LZ 14-5; and junior guard/forward Cohen Ottaviano (5 points, 4 boards) grabbed the ball as a Bear drove the lane, resulting in a jump ball and possession to the hosts.

“Lake Zurich is so good defensively,” said Patriots coach Will Benson, whose boys of winter led 31-25 at halftime and were tied at 40 after three quarters thanks to Pagliocca’s 3-pointer right before the buzzer. “Physical, too. We found a way to win.

“It’s simple, really,” he added. “Get stops on defense, have good possessions on offense.”

“We played tough and we played hard,” said Albrecht, who was the Pats’ eighth man, sometimes seventh, last season and owns a lightning-quick first step and an on-court mindset that’s stuck in full-throttle gear. “We also hit some big shots.”

Stevenson survived a spectacular third-quarter from LZ senior Tyler Reed. The 6-foot-3 Bear tallied his team’s first 13 points, with the 12th and 13th giving the visitors a 38-35 lead at 2:02. He finished with a team-high 17 points, ahead of senior Kain Kretschmar’s 11 and senior forward Adrian Riep’s 9; Riep also pulled down a game-best 14 boards, matching his uniform number.

“Tyler had been close to having a breakout game a couple of times,” said LZ coach Terry Coughlin after his club slipped to 3-3, 0-1. “A game like he had tonight is a game that will springboard him.”

The Bears’ glaring resolve at the outset of the second half also heartened Coughlin.

“First half, we played out of character,” he said three nights after LZ defeated host Prospect 41-36. “You saw more of our true identity after halftime.”

Girls’ game: Lake Zurich limited host Stevenson to 9 first-half points and got a game-high 18 points from senior guard and Ferris State commit Leah Gilbertson en route to a 45-27 NSC victory in Friday night’s first game.

LZ improved to 4-2, 2-0; Stevenson fell to 2-5, 1-1.

“We came out with defensive intensity,” said Bears coach Chris Bennett. “We had a good game plan, and our players executed it well.

“Leah,” he continued, “grew up a lot defensively and did an awesome job at that end of the court.”

Junior forward Kaitlin Wahlund and senior forward Alex Nowak-Tice (7 boards) scored 7 points apiece for LZ, which led 23-9 at the break and 39-15 after three quarters. Bears senior guard Layne Nordstrom grabbed 10 rebounds.

Senior center Alexa Karcz paced Stevenson with 8 points, and junior teammate Leila Markicic scored all 7 of the Pats’ points in the first quarter.