This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Bears' Revolutionary Lineup Can't Stop Patriots Attack

Coach Pitcher gets encouraging results from his bench in close contest.

Using his bench much more than he has all season, Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher thought it was time to switch things up with just five wins on the season. Although the Bears lost to Stevenson 48-42 in an early Saturday evening game, they played better than they have recently, thanks in part to benchwarmers Kyle Russ, Brenden Seeger, Danny Kunz, Jeff O’Brien, Justin Peterson and Doug Murphy, who led the team with 10 points.

“It’s time to give some of the other players an opportunity,” said Pitcher. “We’ve gone with the same lineup the whole season, and now it’s time to see what some of the other guys are capable of doing.”

As in their previous matchup with Stevenson in Lincolnshire last month, the Bears kept it close through the entire game. Unlike several recent games, lake Zurich didn’t allow a huge scoring jag by their opponent. The Patriots did jump out to a 9-1 lead, however, as senior guard Ryan Chapman scored a pair of baskets, the first on a steal that led to an end-to-end drive resulting in an easy layup.

Find out what's happening in Lake Zurichwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lake Zurich battled back, as Justin Peterson scored a layup after a frantic battle under the net. Colin Rathe finally recovered the ball and dished it to Peterson for the field goal. Other than Patriot Johnny Ricchio’s 3-pointer to the right of the free throw paint, the Bears did the rest of the scoring in the quarter, and were down 12-9.

After Stevenson junior guard Michael Fleming hit 2-for-2 from the line to start the scoring in the second quarter, Lake Zurich answered back with four straight free throw points, by Drake Orser and Mike Boyd, closing the gap to a 14-13 Stevenson advantage.

Find out what's happening in Lake Zurichwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But Stevenson outscored Lake Zurich 10-3 during the remainder of the quarter, taking a 24-16 lead into the half.

In the third quarter, the Bears outscored the Patriots 12-11,  narrowing Stevenson's lead by a point. Pitcher started substituting his regulars as Russ, Seeger, O’Brien, Peterson and Murphy got more playing time as the game progressed. Murphy, Russ and O’Brien all responded by going 2-for-2 from the line, as Lake Zurich entered the fourth quarter down 35-28.

The Bears scored the first four points of the fourth quarter on a layup by O’Brien and another pair of free throws by Murphy, pulling to within three points of Stevenson at 35-32. And while Pitcher was never able to get any closer than that, he at least kept the Bears within striking distance while primarily using substitutes. O’Brien had a pair of free throws later in the quarter, Murphy completed a 3-point play with one from the line after a driving hook shot, then followed that with a layup.

But guard Kyle Russ saved the best for last, with a juking jumper in front of  the net in heavy traffic. With several bodies in front of him, Russ, not the biggest player on the court, threaded the needle perfectly for the field goal.

“We really needed to get a win tonight,” said an obviously disappointed Pitcher. “Murphy, O’Brien and Seeger all played well for us tonight. It will make it a little more interesting as far as who starts and who gets more playing time in our next game.”

Bears Pause: Murphy, with 10 points, was the only Bears player with double digits. O’Brien was second with 6 points. In an unusual twist, the top two scorers for each team were all off the bench. Junior guard Troy Radtke led Stevenson with 12 points, and Ricchio had 8 points.

While the game was fairly close, Stevenson did have the lead throughout the entire contest.

Lake Zurich is now 5-19 on the season.

Next Up: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 18, at home against Zion-Benton; 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 22 at home versus Grant.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Lake Zurich