Stevenson tops shorthanded Lake Forest
It happened again to Stevenson basketball player Avery King.
For the second time in a couple of weeks, the junior guard lost a contact lens on the court during a game. She grabbed a new one from her bag, placed it in her eye and got back in the game.
"I got poked in the eye," King said.
She regained her focus quickly. King had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 6 blocked shots in helping Stevenson get past host Lake Forest 50-37 in a North Suburban Conference showdown on Tuesday night. The Patriots (15-7, 5-4) have won five straight games, while Lake Forest (16-6, 6-2) has dropped two in a row after winning nine consecutive games.
Simone Sawyer led Stevenson with a game-high 15 points and 6 rebounds, and fellow freshman Ava Bardic added 12 points. Ellie Pearson led Lake Forest 14 points and 12 boards, and Molly Fisher chipped in 12 points.
The Scouts played without junior point guard Halle Douglass, who injured her ankle in Saturday's loss to Hersey.
"Halle Douglass not only makes her team better, but she makes our team better because she's such a great competitor," Stevenson coach Ashley Graham said. "She's a really tough loss for their team. I really wish her well. She's one of the best players in the state. She makes every team better by being such a fierce competitor and such a good basketball player." Douglass doesn't have a timetable for her return.
"You never want to lose a player like Halle," Lake Forest coach Kyle Wilhelm said. "We're just waiting for her to be ready to go 100 percent. We don't know when she'll be back."
Stevenson held a 22-20 advantage starting the second half. The Patriots went on a roll, hitting three straight 3-pointers from Nikki Ware, Bardic and Sawyer. Then Sawyer made a layup to cap a 13-1 run for a 35-21 lead with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
"During halftime, we were all sitting in the locker room saying that we had to come out fast," said Sawyer, who had 9 points in the third quarter. "We hit a bunch of shots and went on a run. It really helped us because the third quarter can really determine where a basketball game goes."
The Patriots had a 39-28 advantage entering the final quarter.
Lake Forest made a run, as Fisher hit a couple of treys in an 8-3 run and cut the lead to 42-36. But Stevenson scored 8 of the next 9 points.
"I thought we did a good job in our zone defense," Graham said. "We talk all the time that we're a good three-point shooting team when they are good three-point shots. We're trying to be our best selves out there and constantly work on little things in practice."