HILLSIDE — There isn’t much time to rest between games at the 54th annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament.
But the biggest challenge for Maine South boys basketball coach Tony Lavorato Jr. and his team was preparing to face Stevenson, the defending tournament champions and the Class 4A state semifinalists last season.
The Patriots scored the last nine points in the quarterfinal game to pull out the 60-51 victory over Maine South on Dec. 23.
Eighth-seeded Maine South tied the game at 51-51 with 4:06 remaining on junior guard Jon Arenas’ 3-pointer from the corner after trailing 43-37 to end the third quarter.
Planning to play Stevenson in the Proviso West quarterfinals began days ahead of time, but Lavorato’s first task was to prepare for first-round opponent Uplift. The Hawks won 53-48 on Dec. 22 to set up the game against the Patriots, an 86-33 winner against New Trier. On the night of Dec. 22, Lavorato sent out video clips of Stevenson — a team the Hawks could face again in the Class 4A Waukegan Sectional — to his players on hudl.com.
Lavorato also watched video of Stevenson on the High School Cube website. He even watched last year’s Proviso West final between Stevenson and Morgan Park another time.
“We watched film to prepare for our first two games [at Proviso West]. We even had video on New Trier on the other side so we had three teams to prepare for,” Lavorato said.
On the day of the Stevenson game, Lavorato arrived at Maine South at 10 a.m. The team reported to school at noon and watched video until 1:30 p.m. Lavorato held a walk-through in the gymnasium until the Hawks boarded the bus at 1:45 p.m. The game was scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m. at Proviso West.
- Stevenson’s Jalen Brunson made five three-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points against Maine South on Dec. 23. | Worsom Robinson/for Sun-Times Media
Maine South reserve senior guard Nick Ruben learned quickly that watching Villanova-bound Jalen Brunson on video is a lot easier than guarding him. Ruben fouled Brunson, who was driving toward the basket with 3:01 remaining in the first quarter, and then Ruben was charged with a technical foul when he made contact with Brunson after the whistle.
“He’s very quick,” Ruben said. “He’s crafty and knows how to control his body. It’s tough staying with him. He knows exactly how to attack. He knows how to do everything.”
Brunson scored a game-high 29 points for Stevenson, but all five of the senior’s three-pointers came in the first half when he scored 19 points.
Lavorato admitted that defending Brunson would be nearly impossible. The Hawks’ base 2-3 zone held the rest of the Patriots to eight points in the first half.
“They take away the middle [in a zone],” Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. “They contest shots and switch well off the right guy. They’re good. We were up six or seven points at the end of the game and they stay in [their zone].”
The Hawks had four players in double-figures: Arenas (14 points, seven rebounds), George Sargeant (13 points, seven rebounds), Caleb deMarigny (12 points) and Davis Neilands (12 points).
Maine South survived a stretch of seven consecutive missed shots in the third quarter to rally in the fourth quarter.
Brunson attacked the zone in the first half and was 5-of-9 from behind the three-point arc.
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“We don’t have anybody on our floor or on our bench that can handle him,” Lavorato said. “We tried to handle him with five [in our zone defense].”
Brunson’s three-pointers usually came from the left wing. That’s where deMarigny, a senior guard, was lined up in the zone.
“We tried to make it tough on him, but great players make great plays,” deMarigny said.