Boys Basketball: Stevenson puts away Palatine early

Updated: January 28, 2012 11:58PM

The run started innocently enough.

Stevenson point guard Jalen Brunson made two layups and splashed a three-pointer to give the Patriots an 11-4 head start on Palatine at the four-minute mark of the first quarter.

Over the next seven minutes, Stevenson blitzed the homestanding Pirates with a 21-3 run to take a 31-7 lead that paved the way to an easy 65-46 victory in nonconference play on Saturday evening.

Stevenson (12-8 overall) had lost seven of eight games since a 10-1 start, but got back on the right track by forcing 15 turnovers, dominating the glass and getting contributions from all over the lineup.

Palatine (2-19) never could recover from the opening onslaught, turning the ball over 11 times in the first half and falling behind by as many as 29 points. The Pirates were also outrebounded, 36-22.

“After that successful start, we started losing close games to teams we were capable of beating,” Stevenson guard Michael Fleming said. “We changed our focus back to what it was at the beginning of the season – playing with energy, sharing the ball and playing as a team.”

Fleming, who led all scorers with 16 points, hit two consecutive three-pointers early in the third period and Colby Cashaw followed with a thunderous two-handed rebound slam to put an exclamation mark on the rout. From there, the reserves coasted to the decisive win.

Brunson and Danny Nowak added 11 points to complement Fleming, while Andy Stempel grabbed eight rebounds for the Patriots.

“One of our keys was to come out and generate the energy and enthusiasm,” Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. “We caught a break not playing last night because they were probably dead tired after playing Fremd last night, so we came out and just methodically hit shots and put up points.

“We never want to be a two-man team, because we have a lot of guys who are capable of stepping up and scoring. We played good defense on one end and that translated the other way to some good offense for us.”

Jordan Jarrett led the Pirates with 12 points and John Millin chipped in 10 points in a losing effort.

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