Stevenson wins consolation title at Hinsdale Central

Stevenson sophomore Evan Ambrose has been coming off the bench since joining the varsity a couple of weeks ago.

He seems to be accepting his role and played a factor in another win for the Patriots on Saturday. Ambrose scored 5 of his 8 points in the first quarter, as Stevenson went on to beat the host school 60-37 for the consolation championship of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.

"(Playing on varsity), the speed and the strength takes a little bit to get used to," Ambrose said. "It's a learning curve."

The Patriots (12-3) won their last three games after losing their tournament opener to St. Charles East on late three-point shot.

"It really wasn't the trophy we wanted, exactly," Ambrose said. "We played hard."

John Ittounas scored a game-high 14 points for Stevenson. Matthew Kaznikov added 10.

"We really did a good job playing defense," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "We played hard and took away some of (Hinsdale Central's) strengths. Winning the consolation championship means we won three games and we took some steps forward. We didn't have a good start but we had a good finish."

The Patriots will take their three-game winning streak into the new year. The tournament was helpful for them.

"I'm really happy with the way some of the kids are developing," Pat Ambrose said. "Since we have only two players with a lot of varsity experience from last year (Luke Chieng and Matt Ambrose), we have guys that need game time."

Matt Ambrose has been out the last month a finger injury and is expected back in lineup in the next couple of weeks.

Stevenson jumped out to a 15-5 lead by the end of the first quarter against Hinsdale Central (4-9). The Patriots extended their lead to 43-23 entering the final quarter.

Matthew Rush led Hinsdale Central with 10 points.