Simon's fancy footwork helps lift Stevenson past Mundelein

When Stevenson senior Kelsey Simon first enrolled at Stevenson, basketball was not her forte.

In fact, Simon, who was just 5-feet-10 at the time, was more into dance, pompons and cheerleading.

"I never really thought of basketball at all," Simon said. "I love to dance."

Four years later, the Miami of Ohio-bound Simon has found that many of her old dancing moves from her freshman year can still be put to good use. Take this stretch for example:

In the third quarter of the Patriots' North Suburban Lake Division contest with visiting Mundelein, Simon stole the ball and turned to head toward the basket.

As she did so, her left foot gave out, and then her right foot and Simon executed a perfect split. She also proceeded to send her left shoe flying in the direction of teammate Anna Morrissey.

Simon used plenty of fancy footwork around the basket, too. Her 14 points and 9 rebounds helped Stevenson defeat the Mustangs 61-36 Saturday night.

Simon and Morrissey did the bulk of their damage in the third quarter as Stevenson (16-6, 7-4) broke open a tight 24-18 halftime advantage.

Morrissey scored 8 of her game-high 18 points in the period and coupled that with tough defense on Mundelein's leading scorer Brooke Evans.

Evans, who finished with 10 points, took just 2 shots in the second half and failed to score.

"I thought Anna played an outstanding all-around game tonight," said Patriots coach Tom Dineen. "We went more to man defense in the second half and Anna did a great job on Evans to hold her scoreless."

The Patriots blitzed Mundelein (13-12, 3-7) with a 12-2 run that extended from the end of the second quarter halfway into the third period, building the lead to 32-18.

"(They) really hit us and rattled off like 8-10 points in a row and that put us back on our heels," said Mustangs coach Brian Evans. "With this team it's tough because when we get down 6, 8, 10 points, we have a tough time coming back."

Morrissey did her damage driving to the hoop while Simon was a force down low, scoring 9 of her 14 points in the third quarter.

"Everything in our offense was more to the basket (in the third quarter)," Morrissey said. "We weren't forcing things so much because when we do force it, it leads to turnovers."

The Mustangs were able to stay with the Patriots through the first two quarters. Setting the pace were Evans and senior Jessica Bjerning, who led the Mustangs with 12 points.

But the Patriots' burst to start the second half was too much for the Mustangs to overcome.