Stevenson's Patriot Act Too Much for Bears' Girls in 60-37 Loss

In the Lake Zurich girl’s team’s final regular season game Friday night, Stevenson routed the Bears 60-37 in a game that was originally scheduled to be played last week but was postponed due to the mighty blizzard of ’11.

The game started poorly for the Bears, who were outscored 10-0 by the Patriots. Lake Zurich came back with six consecutive points to narrow Stevenson’s lead to 10-6. The Patriots answered the Bears’ spurt with seven straight points, boosting their lead to 17-6.

Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett realized that he had to make an adjustment, and switched over to a press defense. This resulted in several easy steals for the Bears, and they climbed back into the game, down by two at 19-17.

Unfortunately, Stevenson coach Tom Dineen called a timeout and made some counter-adjustments, and the Patriots went on a 17-2 scoring tear over the last four minutes of the second quarter. At halftime, Stevenson led 36-20.

Entering the third quarter, the Patriots kept the pedal to the medal, and never led by less than 18 points for the duration of the game.

“Typical game for us,” said Bears coach Chris Bennett. “(We) played well in chunks, played poorly in chunks, never able to maintain positive momentum.”

Lake Zurich’s scoring summary: 7 points in the first quarter; 13 points in the second quarter; 5 points in the third quarter; 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Stevenson’s scoring summary: 15 points in the first quarter; 21 points in the second quarter; 12 points in the first quarter; 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Bears Pause: Maisie Cox and Cathryne Spear each had 8 points to pace the Bears, and Dori Darras scored 7 points. It was Darras’ first game in five weeks since she broke a bone in her right hand. Karlissa Skarb played sparingly in the first half. She’s still coming back from a muscle pull in her chest.

Michelle O’Brien led Stevenson with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Ashley Niedermeyer had 8 points and Anna Morrissey 7 points for the Patriots.

Lake Zurich concluded their regular season with an 11-18 record, and a four-game losing streak going into Tuesday’s tournament game against Lake Forest.

Stevenson finished their regular season with a 20-8 record.

Next Up: 8:10 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 15, against Lake Forest at Zion-Benton in Zion; 8:10 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 16, against Zion-Benton at Zion-Benton in the team’s respective quarterfinal and semifinal IHSA tournament games.