Stevenson wins, screamin' and kickin'

Stevenson's weekend sweep, back-to-back routs of two girls basketball teams with a combined 36 wins, provided reason to dance.

And so the Patriots did - stretched across their home court in front of two seasoned dancers, no less.

With senior teammates and former pompom girls Kelsey Simon and Paige Ekenberg sitting in chairs at midcourt following Stevenson's 75-47 win over nonconference visitor Highland Park on Saturday, the Patriots cranked up a pop music mix and performed an elaborate and lengthy dance routine. It included a Rockettes-like kick line and solo dances.

At the end of it, Simon and Ekenberg, who had just played their final home game, were dragged into a circle. Their teammates then ended the routine by falling backward while mocking a fadeaway 3-pointer and screaming, "Paige!"

"Because she always says, 'Shoot the 3,' " junior Michelle O'Brien explained of Ekenberg.

Talk about a performance. After basketball practices last week, the Patriots secretly practiced their dance routine, which O'Brien credited mainly freshman Kari Moffat and junior McKinley Imus for choreographing.

"I don't know what they worked harder on - practice this week or practice for the dance," Patriots coach Tom Dineen joked. "With both causes, I think they did a good job."

Simon and Ekenberg had no idea what their teammates had planned for them.

"That was top of the line," a smiling Simon said. "It was very thoughtful. They're good teammates."

Like Simon, Ekenberg was overwhelmed and impressed.

"They were pretty good," said Ekenberg, who was also all smiles. "They had their moves down. They had the kick line down and everything."

For as well as the Patriots danced, they might have performed better during the game.

Fresh off a 24-point win over a 16-win Wauconda team Friday night, Stevenson jumped out to a 13-3 lead against Highland Park (18-6) and never relented. The Patriots were up 21-7 after one quarter, 40-21 at halftime and 58-33 heading into the fourth after closing the third with 12 unanswered points.

O'Brien totaled a game-high 24 pointers (three 3-pointers), 5 rebounds and 5 steals. Simon and Anna Morrissey added 17 points apiece, as Stevenson won its fifth straight in improving to 18-6.

"I think we're playing our best ball," Dineen said. "This is 31/2 games in a row now I think we've looked pretty good."

Call it good timing considering the state tournament starts in two weeks.

"I don't know that we're a team you want to be playing in the state tournament," said Dineen, whose Patriots this week drew the fourth seed in the Class 4A Libertyville sectional behind Wheeling (No. 1), Hersey (No. 2) and Libertyville (No. 3).

"When we're on, we're very good. We've shown that the last couple of games."

"They're very good," Highland Park coach Jolie Bechtel said of the Patriots. "They're just very disciplined. They do all the little things right. They move the basketball well. They play good defense."

Highland Park, which was coming off an emotional win over Deerfield on Friday that gave the Giants the Central Suburban North championship, received 13 points from Briana Collier and 12 apiece from Emily Feldman and Lauren Evans.

Stevenson dominated at both ends of the court.

"We've been really pushing the ball up the floor lately and it's really been getting us good in transition," O'Brien said. "We've gotten a lot of transition baskets."

"We've been focusing on defense, because defense can win championships," said the 6-foot-2 Simon, who also had 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. "We have goals before the game that Mr. Dineen will give us, and he stresses defense - defend inside and outside, take away their strong hand and don't let them drive with their strong hand."