In a conference matchup at home on Dec. 21, the Stevenson girls basketball team (8-5) proved to be too much for St. Viator (4-8), with the Patriots securing a win 55-34.

Stevenson started the game off with an entry pass from Kate Arne ’23 to Emory Klatt ’24 in the post, leading to an easy score for the first points of the night. St. Viator’s Allia Von Schlegell responded with a made three in transition to make it 3-2 with under seven minutes to play in the first quarter. Nisha Musunuri ’25 found an open Kendell Williams ’24 in the corner, who then found the cutting Klatt for the easy bucket. After several threes and made shots in the post, Stevenson pulled away and was up 14-4 at the end of the quarter.

Klatt set the tone to start the second quarter, making a tough basket through heavy contest from the defense. Mia Bergstrom and Schlegell both hit tough shots from beyond the arc to get St. Viator back in the game, putting the score at 18-9. Driving in transition, Schlegell broke through multiple Patriot defenders and was fouled at the rim. Landing awkwardly on her right knee, Schlegell was in visible pain but still knocked down both free throws before subbing out of the game.

For the remainder of the second quarter, Stevenson played exceptional defense, preventing St. Viator from getting open looks and forcing them to make difficult shots or earn it at the charity stripe. Bergstrom broke this trend, ending the quarter with a made three despite heavy contest from the defense, cutting Stevenson’s lead down to single digits making it 30-21 to end the half.

Although Stevenson’s inside scoring proved to be too much for St. Viator early on, the Lions were doing much better on offense in the second quarter. Getting to the rim and making open threes, Stevenson defense wasn’t as successful at stopping the Lions, allowing them to score 17 points in the second quarter alone.

“At half-time, Coach Graham was really hard on us,” Musunuri said. “We got it together in the second half and made sure to not let Bergstrom and [Schlegell] shoot the ball.”

To start the third, neither team scored for two minutes. Williams broke the scoring drought with a made pullup jump shot to extend the lead to 32-21. Arne caught a quick bullet pass from Sydney Rosland ’25 to get the easy layup alongside drawing a foul. Converting the and-one opportunity, Arne made the score 35-21.

With a quick fadeaway jump shot at the left elbow from Arne followed by a Musunuri layup off a steal from the inbound pass, the Patriots put the game out of reach with the score at 39-23 with under four minutes to play.

Stevenson never lost their lead throughout the game, but several times St. Viator came close to cutting down the deficit. However, after adjustments from Coach Graham, the Patriots pulled away in the third quarter by getting several steals and forcing turnovers off of careless moves from the Lions.

“We have to have the mindset that we’re going to [put] pressure on everyone,” Musunuri said. “Everyone’s prone to making mistakes, so we must force the ball out of their hands.”

With not much drama, Stevenson coasted for the rest of the game for an easy win to advance to 8-5 for the season, putting them at third place in the North Suburban Conference.

Stevenson had a strong performance in the paint, making full use of their height advantage in the post. Klatt and Arne had standout performances as Stevenson looked to get the ball to them on most plays.

“Viator did not have many people to match up with [Klatt] and [Arne],” Musunuri said. “In the past, we got a lot of turnovers off of [passing the ball to the post], but we’re starting to get more confident with getting the ball to the post.”

Stevenson looks to replicate their successful performance against St. Viator in the Dundee-Crown Komaromy Classic on Dec. 26. The Patriots will compete against Naperville Central at 4 p.m.