Boys basketball: Stevenson pulls away from Lake Zurich in NSC opener
Two longtime rivals opened their 2024-25 North Suburban Conference basketball schedule when Lake Zurich hosted Stevenson Friday night.
And while the contest was close for a little over one half, it was the visiting Patriots (4-1, 1-0) who had the upper hand the rest of the way as they pulled away for a 63-44 NSC victory.
Lake Zurich trailed 13-11 after one quarter and 31-24 at halftime before a rebound basket by Connor Strauss (team-high 13 points) cut the lead to 31-26 early in the third quarter.
But that was as close at the Bears (2-4, 0-1) would get the rest of the way as a driving basket by Stevenson's Atticus Richmond (13 points) gave the Patriots their biggest lead of the game at 39-26 midway through the period.
The Pats kept that momentum going as a 3-pointer by senior Aidan Bardic (game-high 18 points) extended that lead to 49-33, and Lake Zurich was unable to mount a serious comeback the rest of the way.
"We knew coming into it that this was a big game for both sides because this is a conference rivalry and we love playing each other," said Bardic, whose team got a big dunk from 6-foot guard Donny Williams for a 59-38 lead with 3:35 to go. "Our guys who are on our scout team did a great job all week simulating plays they do in games and when we got out there we were able to read a lot of stuff they did which was really big for us."
Strauss also had a big dunk for the Bears on a breakaway late in the second quarter. But Stevenson's Liam Curtin (12 points) was able to answer with his second 3-pointer of the first half just before the buzzer sounded to send the Patriots into halftime with the 31-24 lead.
"It's a possession game. It's hard to just blow a team out, and I don't think we took a bad shot in 32 minutes," said Stevenson coach Will Benson, whose team plays Waubonsie Valley Saturday at Glenbard West. "I think our defense and our rebounding overall was really solid. That is a good, physical, defensive team and to score that many points is a credit to our kids."
Lake Zurich's Kain Kretschmar scored 8 of his 11 points in the first half while junior teammate Adrian Riep also scored 11 points. Williams wound up scoring 9 points while teammate Spencer Flynn had 4 points, including a wide-open driving basket for a 53-36 lead with 5:36 left.
"We couldn't contain the ball, and we couldn't rebound and that's really the story of the game," said Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin, whose team had a 7-point run early in the first quarter. "In the second half they played more freely, and it seemed like every time we were about to get that big stop we needed they got an offensive rebound or got to the free-throw line."