Klatt's play sparks Stevenson's win over Lake Forest
Jumping out to a quick 12-2 lead over visiting Lake Forest after two minutes and a 22-4 lead after one quarter was a great sign for the Stevenson girls basketball team Tuesday night.
And while the visiting Scouts did bounce back strongly by outscoring the Patriots 16-8 in the second quarter, that would not be enough to stop Stevenson from regrouping for a strong second half.
Six-foot-1 sophomore Emory Klatt was a big factor throughout the game for Stevenson (8-1, 3-0) as she scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the second half to help carry the Patriots to a 63-45 North Suburban Conference victory.
Lake Forest (6-4, 1-2) pulled to within 30-22 on an inside basket by Kathy Peterson-Ross to open the third quarter. But the fourth 3-pointer of the game by Stevenson's Ava Bardic (16 points) got the Patriots' offense headed back in the right direction.
Klatt's inside hoop assisted by Kendall Williams boosted the lead to 43-26 before Stevenson took a comfortable 45-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
"The first five minutes were really good and we had a tremendous start, it kind of got really hard during that second quarter and at halftime we were kind of at a low I think," said Klatt. "But then we really brought it together in the second half with energy from the bench, and overall I think we really grew as a team during that game because we were so low at a point and then we came back."
The Pats were able to retain their comfortable lead the rest of the way as Simone Sawyer joined Klatt and Bardic in double figures by scoring 11 points. Williams scored 8 points while teammate Kate Arne added 7 points.
Rachel Kaus had a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Scouts while teammate Tricia Gray had 11 points. Lake Forest's Bella Ranallo had 10 points and 6 rebounds.
"Basketball is a game of runs, we got off to a really good start, but credit to Lake Forest for getting back into it," said Stevenson coach Ashley Graham. "I was proud of our kids. We built that early 18-point lead, and we ended up winning by 18 points.
Lake Forest coach Stacey Leach was also happy with her squad's effort after the slow start.
"I think we might have had a bit of nerves, but they've got a lot of weapons so they are hard to stop," Leach said. "All things considered I'm proud of our effort, we never gave up, and we'll grow from this game."