Another high-flying show from Smith, Stevenson

The outcome was never in doubt. But there was still a little bit of drama in Friday's North Suburban Conference boys basketball game between Mundelein and visiting Stevenson.

Just how many times would 6-foot-7 Stevenson star Justin Smith, an Indiana recruit, dunk the ball? It seemed everyone in the gym, including Mundelein's faithful student section, was hoping for more, not less.

The answer is 3 dunks for Smith, who barely even played in the fourth quarter since the game was well within Stevenson's control by then.

Smith pumped in a game-high 24 points to lead the Patriots to a breezy 73-31 victory. Stevenson, which was up 31-13 by halftime, is now a perfect 7-0.

"That stuff is fun," said Smith, referring to his dunks. "That's what I enjoy and I love playing basketball and I'm happy that I can do that and use my abilities."

Smith had an alley-oop dunk, a put-back dunk and a fastbreak dunk. He made all three look easy, as did he the rest of his game, which is typical of a four-year varsity player.

"Justin is very smooth and strong and smart. That makes a big package," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "He is so talented and so gifted. He can do so much."

Smith got a helping hand from fellow senior Willie Herenton, who finished with 20 points, and also barely played in the fourth quarter.

No other Patriots finished in double-figures, and that kind of scoring imbalance has been a recurring theme so far this season. It is often the "Smith and Herenton" show for Stevenson.

"Those two are talented, there's no doubt about that," Ambrose said. "We have to continue to look for some balance and diversity within our offense and with our scoring. It concerns me a little bit because there are teams that are going to try to (expose that). We have things to work on there."

Both teams cleared their benches and got a lot of players minutes. Stevenson played 14 players while Mundelein, which was led in scoring by Andrew Silva (8 points) and Jeff Bikus (7 points) played 13.

"Stevenson is just really good," said Mundelein coach Corey Knigge, whose team drops to 2-5 on the season. "And Justin Smith is so athletic. He's not going to Indiana for no reason."