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Stevenson tops Mundelein for 20th win

No. 1 son was on target on Friday night.

Yes, Matt Ambrose felt the pressure of his dad being the coach a year ago.

However, the Stevenson junior has moved on from there. On Friday night, the Patriots' boys basketball team went searching for win No. 20. In the building was the young but winning Mustangs of Mundelein.

It was tied after one quarter. Matt Ambrose had 10 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter and Stevenson (20-3, 10-1) pulled away from Mundelein 60-49 in a North Suburban Conference game.

Officially, Ambrose hit 6 of his 10 shots from long range. And he gave credit to the festivities of the night. It was a combination of Senior Night and Hoops for Heroes.

"Our seniors are important to us,'' Ambrose said. "It was easy to get up for this game. We seem to be gelling at the right time."

Ambrose had some help on the court from one of those seniors. Luke Chieng made two 3-pointers and backed up Ambrose with a 17-point night.

"I shot pretty well,'' Chieng noted. "There was a lot of energy from our team tonight with the Senior Night and Hoops for Heroes."

Mundelein's Andrew Gonzalez (12 points) gave his team two leads in the game. His first of two 3-pointers gave Mundelein a quick 5-3 lead. And his lean-in shot gave his team a 17-15 lead in the early minutes of the second quarter.

That's when Ambrose was just getting warmed up. He had back-to-back 3-pointers and completed a personal 8-point run as Stevenson pulled ahead at halftime 28-24.

Mundelein's inside power Scottie Ebube (13 points, 14 rebounds) had an early 3-point play in the third quarter to pull his team close at 33-29.

"We are still a young team,'' said Mundelein coach, Matt Badgley. "But Stevenson shot foul shots better than us. I'm glad we fought all the time."

Ambrose opened the final quarter with his final 3-pointer. Chieng flipped a shot and the Pats' lead hit double digits at 54-41.

"We shot the ball well tonight,'' said Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose. "And we had some fast breaks. Plus, I was able to get all the seniors in."

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