Stevenson’s 44-31 girls basketball victory over Hersey on Friday was a tale of two streaks:
In one of them, the third-ranked Patriots–thanks to Maritza Morales’ six points–went on an 11-0 second-half run to take a 31-23 lead and wrest control of this Maine West Tipoff Tournament game.
The other streak was one held by Stevenson coach Frank Mattucci. He had not received a technical foul since January 1995, the season the Patriots won their first state title. But that stretch of almost six years ended with 5 minutes 11 seconds left in this game.
That technical, though, registered barely a blip as the Patriots (2-0) stormed back from a 21-20 halftime deficit to dominate the second 16 minutes.
“We were up two going into the fourth quarter,” Mattucci said, “and then I thought we put the clamps on them.”
Morales and Jenni Dant were the keys. Morales scored the first two baskets of the final quarter, both after Hersey turnovers. She also sank all six of her free throws in the period to finish with a career-high 14 points.
Hersey committed 26 turnovers to Stevenson’s eight, and the chief reason for that disparity was Dant. The 5-foot-10-inch senior came up with eight steals, which, combined with her five rebounds, helped the DePaul-bound guard make up for a poor shooting game. She finished with 10 points, but was only 1-of-12 from the field.
“It was basically our defense,” said Morales, who pointed out that in the first half she and her teammates “were getting beat to the ball and outhustled.”
In other Maine West games, Linnea O’Neill scored a game-high 21 points to lift the seventh-ranked hosts (3-0) over Evanston 56-47. Lindsay Miller finished with 10 points, five rebounds and five steals for the Wildkits (0-2). … No. 3 Washington (2-0) got 25 points and 13 rebounds from LaTonya Reed in its 50-27 victory over Maria (0-2). … Katie Frett scored 23 points to help No. 15 St. Ignatius (1-2) defeat Young (1-1) 69-62. Candis Jackson had 28 for the losers.
— Alan Sutton
Waubonsie Valley/West Aurora: No. 6 Fremd (4-1), fueled by Maggie Fontana’s 25 points, defeated Naperville North 57-53. Ashley Rook and Rachel Karos each scored 14 for Naperville North (3-1), which trailed by 15 midway through the fourth quarter and went on a 13-2 run to make the game close. Rook also grabbed 14 rebounds.
Top-ranked Fenwick (4-0) scored 14 unanswered points in the second quarter and cruised past Loyola 57-31. Erin Lawless led the way with 20 points and four assists.
“Our girls have played hardly any games as a unit, so we’re just finding ourselves,” said Fenwick coach Dave Power, whose team split up in the summer by playing on different AAU teams. “I don’t think you’ll see how good we can be until much later in the season.”
Loyola dropped to 3-2.
Kami Bethke scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds to lead Waubonsie (4-2) past West Aurora 58-46.
Buffalo Grove: New Trier (3-2) knocked off No. 19 Maine South 43-38 as Lauren Lubin scored 14 and Shana Franklin added 11 points and 11 rebounds. “We lost to Maine South four times last year,” Lubin said. “We came out hungry. This is definitely a sweet win.”
Britt Luxton scored 12 points on four three-pointers for Maine South (4-1).
No. 14 Barrington (4-0) upended Resurrection 65-48 with Lindsey Richards’ 17 points and Nicky Eason’s 14. Denise Bronski scored 21 for Resurrection (1-4). . . . Buffalo Grove held on for a 54-52 victory over Lake Park. . . . Lizzy Aldridge tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds and Courtney Dydo added 17 points as Libertyville pounded Warren 68-42. Kelly Mikkila led Warren with 16 points.
Hinsdale South: Melanie Ploger’s 18 points helped No. 4 Hinsdale Central (4-0) down Plainfield 57-41. Kristin Johnson scored 10 for Plainfield (2-2). . . . Hinsdale South (3-1) stopped Larkin 61-47 behind Jill Randa’s 24 points.
Naperville Central/East Aurora: Lyndsey Krieger scored 18 points on six three-pointers as No. 16 Sandburg (4-1) knocked off Naperville Central 59-41. Candace Parker led Naperville Central (3-1) with 20 points. . . . Eighth-ranked Benet (4-1) routed No. 11 Regina 62-39 behind Jenny Callan’s 16 points. Christina Quaye scored 12 for Regina (3-1).
Laura Brackman scored 12 points and Elizabeth Draths added 10 as Glenbard West downed East Aurora 41-31. Jennifer Jaquez led East Aurora with 10 points. . . . Cassandra Cook’s 14 points led Elgin past Batavia 41-19.
Deerfield: Sharon Thomas had 20 points and Melissa Wegner added 13 as Lane Tech (4-1) held off Leyden 45-39. Karen Gorzynski scored 16 to lead Leyden (1-5). . . . Meg Malueg scored 18 points as Round Lake (2-2) rallied to defeat Glenbrook North 44-37. Casey Gehrig had 15 points for Glenbrook North. . . . Meggie Eck scored 13 points and Sam Glass added 12 as Deerfield (4-1) cruised past North Chicago 85-38. . . . Waukegan (2-3) edged Niles North 46-43 in overtime behind Kanisha Pettis’ 13 points. Nadja Srak had 10 points for Niles North (2-3).
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Elgin Academy: Aurora Central Catholic sank five free throws in overtime to defeat Willows 47-44. Kim Klein had 20 points, 13 rebounds and nine steals for Aurora Central (2-1). Deirdre Mangan’s 21 sparked Willows (2-2).
Fenton/Elk Grove: Becky Adorable scored 27 points and made a school-record 10 steals as Fenton (3-2) edged Zion-Benton 53-47. Adorable, who had five assists, also tied a school record with six three-pointers. Candice Williams had 15 points for Zion-Benton. . . . Tiffany Tietze’s 18 points carried Grayslake past Westmont 64-27. . . . Lea Bingayen had 11 points as Niles West defeated Elk Grove 45-38. Elk Grove’s Megan Trigg led all scorers with 13.
Glenbard East: Freshman guard Joy Falson’s 19 points led Glenbard North to a 63-41 victory over Glenbard East. . . . Meghan Slade-Smith scored 16 points as Downers Grove North downed Addison Trail 56-43.
Johnsburg: Kelly Leary’s jumper with 14 seconds left in overtime gave Johnsburg a 44-43 victory over Richmond-Burton. Amy Morris led Johnsburg with 14 points, while Leary finished with nine points.
Lincoln-Way: Morris (2-0) routed Thornridge behind Katie Gibbs’ 22 points. . . . Zaneta Lang scored 13 points and Tekenya Harper contributed 12 as Rich East (1-3) topped Lincoln-Way 48-40.
Luther North: Mary Kate Farnan scored 15 points and had nine rebounds to spark Riverside-Brookfield (2-1) to a 56-49 victory over Providence-St. Mel. Amber Watson scored 29 in defeat. . . . Elmwood Park used 21 points by Ashley Obrest and 20 by Margaret Gorski to beat Luther North 55-46. Peggy Casey scored 18 for Luther North (2-3).
Lyons Township: Kim Patyk recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as Queen of Peace (1-2) held off Homewood-Flossmoor 54-47. Carrie Mockovak added 14 points and eight rebounds for the victorious Pride. Jenny Truesdale led Homewood-Flossmoor with eight points. . . . Heather Mansour’s 10 points led Downers Grove South (3-0) over Prospect 45-38. Rachel Theodore’s 13 points topped Prospect (4-1).
Mundelein: Carmel (4-1) routed McHenry 71-41 behind Megan Lick’s 21 points and five three-pointers. Shelby Horgan’s 26 points led McHenry (2-2).
Richards: The host Bulldogs defeated Eisenhower 59-34 as Lisa Stone scored 15 points. . . . Richards won its second game of the day–42-28 over Evergreen Park–as Stone scored 10 points. . . . Jenn Reusnow tallied 21 points as Evergreen Park nipped Thornton 51-48. . . . Danielle Murphy scored 31 as Thornton rebounded by edging Eisenhower 63-61.
Tinley Park: Christina Shelton had 14 points as Crete-Monee knocked off Tinley Park 39-29. . . . Alisyn Rathje scored 33 points as Peotone edged Thornton Fractional North 48-44. . . . Keisha Dingle scored 22 as Crete won its second game of the day 50-49 over T.F. North. . . . Frannie Hoogervorst’s 16 points led Tinley Park past Peotone 42-34.
Wheeling: Kari Embree scored 28 points as Wheeling downed Maine East 58-46.