Stevenson’s girls basketball team needed a spark after a sluggish start Tuesday night.
The Patriots trailed visiting Libertyville 15-10 at the end of the first quarter. Still losing 17-15 midway through the second quarter, Stevenson got what it needed from senior forward Taylor Buford. Back-to-back steals from Buford led to five straight points. It keyed a 16-5 run by the Patriots, who seized control of the game and never relinquished the lead.
Stevenson’s 73-46 win over Libertyville in the North Suburban Lake opener for both teams keeps the Patriots undefeated on the season at 6-0.
“First home game, maybe home-game jitters to start,” said senior guard Sophia Way, who finished with 17 points. “By the second half we came out, calmed down, played our game and focused on our defensive principles.”
Behind the strong inside play of senior center Becky Deichl and sophomore Claire Keefe, the Wildcats hung around and trailed by five at 47-42 at the end of the third quarter. To start the fourth, Patriots coach Tom Dineen switched from a man-to-man defense to zone.
That neutralized the Wildcats’ size advantage and led to transition offense for the Patriots. When Buford scored a layup with 3:30 left in the game to make it 60-44 , it capped a 13-2 run and put the game out of reach.
“We wanted to keep the ball out of [Deichl and Keefe’s] hands, and we didn’t do a good job of that early on,” Dineen said. “We went to zone [in the fourth quarter], something different. We had that in our back pocket.”
Buford, who committed to Butler in November, played like the three-year varsity starter she is. She scored all of her 22 points in the final three quarters, using an array of offensive skills both in transition and in the half court.
“Our team is a really good transition team. We like to get up and go,” Buford said. “Once we started getting some stops on defense and some steals, we were really good on offense and getting buckets.”
Dineen added: “[Buford’s] been through the wars. This is her time to shine. Obviously she’s doing that. There’s nothing to hold back.”
Sophomore point guard Ashley Richardson added 13 points for the Patriots. Dineen is using more players this season. Sophomore Madison Wicklund and freshman Skylar Blackstock gave the Patriots productive minutes off the bench.
Deichl (22 points) and Keefe (12 points, 16 rebounds) were held to a combined two points in the fourth quarter. Their inside presence and overall skill is going to give conference foes fits this season.
“They [the Patriots] are one of the best teams in the sectional and they are going to go far. We fought them hard the whole time,” Wildcats coach Greg Pedersen said. “We’re real young and we know we are going to make a lot of mistakes. We played through mistakes and kept it competitive.”