In the championship game of the 54th annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament, the defending champs applied the finishing touch.
Stevenson pulled away in the fourth quarter Saturday after St. Joseph came within one point. That effort netted the Patriots another tournament championship trophy.
Villanova-bound guard Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 27 points and dished out six assists, but the top-seeded Patriots had other players providing support as they beat second-seeded St. Joseph 69-60 to repeat as champs before a crowd of 2,400.
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Stevenson (11-0) became the first team to repeat since St. Joseph (11-2) won three consecutive titles from 2004-06. Brunson was named tournament MVP for the second consecutive time.
“[Winning MVP] means a lot, but most important is the team,” Brunson said. “The team did a great job. [I played against] what was there. I played with what defense was given to me. I tried to be aggressive.”
Brunson scored six points in the fourth quarter, but it was 6-7 sophomore Justin Smith (16 points) who helped bail out the Patriots after the team went more than five minutes without a basket in the second half. St. Joseph turned Stevenson’s 13-point lead into just a one-point lead until Smith scored four consecutive points starting with 6:17 remaining in the game.
“[Winning again] is sweet. It’s a nice thing,” Stevenson coach Patrick Ambrose said. “It’s not sweeter than last year. We were expecting it. We knew they would not give it to us and we’ve got to take it. Game-by-game and round-by-round, we were getting better and better.”
The usually sharp-shooting Brunson made only one three-pointer in the game in six attempts. Stevenson’s outside attack was led by Rice-bound guard Connor Cashaw (18 points, three three-pointers), who scored 12 points in the first half.
The Patriots led 34-31 at halftime, but increased their lead when their first four baskets of the second half came on three-pointers to take a 46-37 lead. The Patriots led 50-37 until St. Joseph scored eight points to end the third quarter.
The championship game featured a rematch of last year’s semifinal game won by Stevenson, 85-71. Brunson scored 32 points in that game and was on pace for a repeat in the title game with 17 points in the first half on 7-for-11 shooting. His alley-oop pass on a fastbreak for a Smith dunk gave the Patriots a 30-26 lead with 2:53 remaining in the second quarter.
Stevenson trailed 24-19 to end the first quarter, but the Chargers shot 2-for-11 in the second quarter and were outscored 15-7. St. Joseph’s only baskets in the second quarter were scored by Nick Rakocevic on a layup and Jordan Ash’s three-pointer with 1:06 before the half.
Rakocevic (18 rebounds) and the Northwestern-bound Ash led St. Joseph with 17 points each, but Rakocevic scored only two baskets after scoring 13 points in the first quarter.
“We fought. We’ve played them in a game before. We know Stevenson is good,” Ash said. “We can’t make mistakes and expect to win. We fought, but I wanted to win tonight.”
Nebraska-bound guard Glynn Watson of St. Joseph finished with six points and scored one basket, a three-pointer to end the third quarter.
Stevenson won its second tournament title in its third appearance at Proviso West while St. Joseph, in its 44th year in the tournament, finished second for the third time. St. Joseph entered the final with nine championships.
The Chargers lost in the championship game for the first time since suffering a 65-59 defeat to Proviso East in 1991.
ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS
First Team
Jalen Brunson – Stevenson (MVP)
Connor Cashaw – Stevenson
Nick Rakocevic – St. Joseph
Jordan Ash – St. Joseph
Charles Matthews – St. Rita
Matt Rafferty – Hinsdale Central
Second Team
Mike Smith – Fenwick
Kalin Fisher – Proviso East
Rahamanh Katumbusi – Kenwood
George Sargeant – Maine South
Armani Chaney – St. Rita