Girls Basketball: Stevenson downs Zion-Benton
By tim froehlig Contributor January 20, 2012 1:16PM
Stevenson's Alex Elzinga (right) tries to fight off a Libertyville defender during Saturday's NSC Lake game. Libertyville won the game in overtime 39-36. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:18AM
Lately, it’s been a good news/bad news scenario for the Stevenson girls basketball team.
The good news for the Patriots? They’re still in control of their own destiny in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.
The bad news: Stevenson (17-6 overall, 7-2 NSC Lake) lost for the second time this season to Libertyville (16-5, 7-3), which means if the Pats lose any of their remaining division games — and the Wildcats win the rest of theirs — Libertyville would own the tiebreaker and retain its division crown.
The Patriots were slated to host Cary-Grove on Wednesday, before returning to NSC Lake competition at home for what should be an extremely winnable game against Lake Forest on Friday.
Prior to the 39-36 overtime loss to Libertyville on Saturday, during which the Patriots surrendered a 14-point second quarter lead, Stevenson had won seven in a row. The team’s overall record, along with its extremely tough schedule, are among the reasons the Patriots feel they deserve a favorable draw when the IHSA releases its postseason pairings.
“I think we’re worthy of one of the top four seeds,” Stevenson coach Tom Dineen said. “But that’s out of our hands.”
One things remains certain. While the Patriots are loaded with raw talent, size and potential, there are a few flaws in their game that keeps them from consistently being mentioned in the same breath as the state’s top teams.
But they seem to be inching closer.
For example, Stevenson shot a dismal 35 percent (6-for-17) from the free-throw line against Libertyville. It’s been an ongoing problem.
“I refer to it as B.C.,” Dineen said. “B.C. meaning Before Christmas, when we were shooting just 50 percent from the foul line as a team, compared to around 65 percent since then. (Libertyville) was a B.C. kind of game for us.”
There are two other main concerns. First, Stevenson allowed Libertyville to pull down 18 offensive rebounds in the last matchup, despite having a distinct size advantage. The result was the Wildcats taking 20 more shots than the Patriots. Secondly, Stevenson committed 17 turnovers.
“It’s disappointing, because we led that game for 29 out of the 32 minutes,” Dineen said. “But there are no excuses — Libertyville’s a good team. The good news is we’re still in control of our own destiny.”
In addition to senior Katie Batman consistently scoring in double-figures, and leading the team at close to 15 points per game, junior Kari Moffat (8 points per game) has shown she can be explosive offensively, too, giving the Patriots a strong 1-2 punch.
Moffat scored a game-high 22 points against Libertyville, including both of Stevenson’s baskets in overtime. She also sank a pair of clutch free throws, which gave her team a two-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, and was a big part of the reason the Patriots shot better than 50 percent from the floor (14-for-27).
“I think we need to keep moving forward — we can’t look back (at this one),” Moffat said. “If we’re going to be successful the rest of the season, I think the keys are we need to make our free throws, and we need to spread other team’s defenses out with our speed and size.”
The team has even started to plan a significant portion of its offense around Moffat’s skills, which include a lightning-quick move to the basket.
“A lot of our plays near the end of the game were designed for her,” Dineen said. “For a 16-year-old, she’s got a lot of weight on her shoulders. Unfortunately, as a team, you don’t always finish. But we’ve been playing very, very well lately.”
Recap: Stevenson’s 44-38 win over Zion-Benton on Jan. 19 was its seventh in a row.
The game was originally slated for Jan. 5, but was postponed due to a teachers strike in Zion.
The Patriots never trailed, but never led by more than seven points, either.
Stevenson also played the entire game with five players.
The five were Moffat (18 points), freshman Taylor Buford (10 points, all in the first half), Katie Batman (12 points), Alex Elzinga and Julia Dabrowski (4 points, 7 rebounds).
Zion-Benton (14-6 overall, 5-4 conference) got 15 points and 10 rebounds from senior center Octavia Crump, and 12 points and nine boards from freshman Mia Yarbrough.
“I thought the big difference was that the energy and effort just weren’t there in the first half,” said Z-B coach Tanya Johnson.
Stevenson led 25-20 at halftime, and after Zion pulled even at 31-31 with 5:43 left in the game — and missed two shots for the lead — Batman made a three-point play to turn the game in Stevenson’s favor for good.
“I thought we defended well,” Dineen said. “Even though the ball wasn’t falling in the second half, I thought we were in command of the game. Down the stretch, we made good decisions and knocked down our free throws, which is what you have to do.”
The Pats were 10-for-13 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to survive a 3-for-21 effort from the field in the second half.
Two nights earlier, Stevenson upended host Grayslake Central 42-31 in nonconference action.
Batman led the Patriots in scoring with 12 points. Moffatt tallied nine points, while Olivia Whalen scored seven.
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