The Stevenson boys basketball team is built around two superstars — senior guards Connor Cashaw and Jalen Brunson.
But as Wednesday night proved, the Patriots can win decisively without their alpha males having big scoring nights.
Stevenson overwhelmed Mundelein 80-36 Wednesday in the North Suburban Lake opener for both teams. It was a game that saw Brunson and Cashaw take a combined 19 shots.
“This is a team [Mundelein] that has nothing to lose. We wanted to have the same mentality, play Stevenson basketball, play good defense,” Brunson said.
With 1:30 left in the first quarter, Stevenson (5-0) led 20-9. A Brunson basket bumped the lead to 22-9. It was his first field goal attempt of the game.
At halftime, Brunson and Cashaw’s combined shooting line was 6-of-13. But Stevenson found other ways to dominate. Senior guard Matt Johnson (3-of-3 three-point shooting in the first quarter, 5-of-6 for the game) picked up the scoring slack and a relentless full-court press (13 first-half turnovers) helped Stevenson’s lead swell to as much as 31 points in the first half (45-14).
“Early in the game, people are going to say, ‘Where’s Jalen Brunson?’ and you are going to find Matt Johnson. Matt will shoot shots for us,” Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said.
In the Patriots’ four victories during Thanksgiving week, seniors Ryan Rosenbaum and Jordan Newman played often. Against Mundelein (0-6), Ambrose again went to his bench frequently. The game was not four minutes old before Rosenbaum took the floor. Junior guard Ryuji Aoki substituted for Brunson later in the quarter.
With the game well in hand at the start of the fourth quarter, Stevenson’s reserves played the rest of the game.
“I’m not interested in running up anybody. I’m interested in developing our players, developing our bench. There are some things we learned about some of those kids,” Ambrose said.
Brunson added: “They really deserve the playing time they are getting. For them to come in with the same enthusiasm, it means a lot to us.”
Newman and Aoki each had eight points for the Patriots. Brunson finished with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. He added seven assists. Cashaw led the team with 11 rebounds, six offensive.
Mundelein did not have a player score in double digits.
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“If you are not where you are supposed to be, something bad happens. If you do something you are not supposed to, something bad happens, and it happens quickly,” Mundelein coach Corey Knigge said. “Against a team like that, you blink and they make you pay. They are that good.”