Stevenson rides big second half past Huntley at Ed Molitor tournament

PALATINE – Donny Williams’ clutch putback bucket beat a buzzer Wednesday afternoon.

As the buzzer’s echo lingered after the third quarter, Williams, Stevenson’s 6-foot, 150-pound junior guard, fell and hit the hardwood hard.

But he smiled harder as teammates surrounded him to help the Patriot return to an upright position.

Those two points — capping his six-point run in the final 2:16 of the frame — upped Stevenson’s lead to 31-22 over Huntley on day three of the Ed Molitor Thanksgiving boys basketball classic at Palatine.

“It gave us energy,” Stevenson senior forward Atticus Richmond said after his team’s 46-28 victory.

“Momentum was ours as soon as Donny made that shot,” Patriots senior guard Aidan Bardic added.

Indeed. Stevenson (2-0) outscored Huntley’s Red Raiders 15-6 in the fourth quarter of a game that lasted a brisk 65 minutes.

The 6-8, 225-pound Richmond went scoreless in the first 16 minutes but stood out in the final 16, pouring in 15 points — the game-high total — and outscoring Huntley (0-2) by 1 point after intermission.

Nine of his points came via 3-point shots, including a smooth fadeaway that broke a 20-all game at 4:39 of the third quarter. Twenty seconds later, Richmond ended his 10-point quarter emphatically with a two-handed dunk.

And his block/rebound sequence set the stage for Williams’ key putback.

The teams had combined for only 29 points in the first half, with Stevenson netting 15 of them.

Richmond (game-high 10 rebounds) and Williams combined for all 16 of the Pats’ points in the third quarter.

“That’s an excellent basketball team,” Huntley coach Collin Kalamatas said of Stevenson, ranked fifth in the Daily Herald’s Top 20 preseason poll. “Aidan Bardic (14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) might be the best guard in this tournament, and their coach (Will Benson) does such a good job.

“I thought we did a great job defensively for a good portion of the game, but we had a couple of costly turnovers and did not close out on Atticus’ threes in the second half.”

Logan Darragh, a 6-7 senior, came down with a team-high eight boards and scored seven points for the Red Raiders. Teammate William Dillon, a 6-3 senior, also scored seven points.

“Logan,” Kalamatas said, “wasn’t even in our rotation last year. He worked hard in the offseason and has emerged as a force on defense.”

Williams (eight points) scored his final two points on a driving layup, stretching the Pats’ advantage to 44-28 with 2:18 left. He then deflected a pass at the other end, resulting in a turnover and a Richmond bucket off a Bardic assist for the game’s final points.

“Donny did so many things well today, guarding and rebounding and scoring when he did,” said Benson.

“His putback there at the end of the third quarter — huge.”

Stevenson senior Liam Curtin, a 6-6 forward, scored all five of his points in the second quarter, including a trey 25 seconds after Huntley had pared a 6-point deficit to 11-9. Pats reserve senior Spencer Flynn, a 6-2 guard/forward, provided a lift with a 4-point, 3-rebound effort.

Red Raiders senior guard Ashua Maya finished with five points.

Stevenson junior guard Rocco Pagliocca — an integral hoopster in Stevenson’s run to a sectional final last winter — underwent rib surgery on Wednesday. He had sustained the injury while weightlifting and will miss up to six weeks, per Benson.

On day four of the tourney on Friday, Huntley faces Lake Park at noon and Stevenson battles Hersey at 4:45 p.m.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241127/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-stevenson-stifles-huntley-dominates-second-half/