On Jan. 5, the Stevenson girls basketball team (14-6) took down the Hampshire Whip-Purs (11-7), securing the win 53-42 in a non-conference game.

To start the game, Emory Klatt ’24 turned the corner and drove to the paint, making a tough, contested two-hand layup for Stevenson’s first points of the night. After playing good defense against Hampshire, Klatt converted the second chance basket off a missed shot. Hampshire’s Whitney Thompson put the Whip-Purs on the board by grabbing an offensive rebound and making a tough reverse layup. Several plays later, Kendell Williams ’24 found the cutting Klatt who made an open layup to end the quarter with the score 17-6.

Throughout the first quarter, Stevenson proved to be the better playmaking team as most of their shots came off assists. Williams had several assists through the entire game.

“[Musunuri] wasn’t feeling great today so I knew I had to step up,” Williams said. “My teammates were making great runs and great cuts so they were just getting open themselves.”

Kate Arne ’23 started the second quarter with a block on a Hampshire shot attempt in the paint. Playing another great defensive possession, Williams stole the ball and made an outlet pass to the running Arne who made the layup. A few possessions later, Williams drove to the basket and passed it to an open Arne, who made the shot to put the Patriots far ahead at 21-6.

Hampshire got their first points of the second quarter when Thompson drew a foul on Musunuri and converted both to put the score at 23-9 with a little under six minutes remaining. Avery Cartee ran the ball in the half court set and hit a euro-step move to make the score 23-11. Towards the end of the quarter, Bri Welter ’23 saved the ball from going out of bounds and flipped the ball behind her head to Musunuri mid-air. Musunuri then passed the ball to Williams, who drained the deep three to end the half 35-18.

Despite Hampshire playing physical defense, post players like Klatt and Arne had high scoring performances.. Klatt was able to score efficiently in the paint and Arne led the scoring with 25 points.

“Having [Arne] guard me and having those matchups [during practice] is the closest we’re going to get [to an actual game].” Klatt said.

To start the new half, Welter picked off an offensive rebound from a Hampshire miss to set herself up for an easy layup. Ashley Herzing got downhill and made a contested layup while drawing a shooting foul. Converting the free throw, the score was at 37-21.

Toward the middle of the third, Hampshire went on a scoring run. Scoring several points off offensive rebounds despite Stevenson’s significant height advantage, they were able to cut the deficit down to single digits.

“A lot of [Hampshire’s] points were from offensive boards,” Williams said. “We just have to box out, we know it’s not our strongest aspect so we have to keep working on it.”

Stevenson was able to stop Hampshire’s run towards the end of the third through slowing down the pace of the game to build on their lead. Grabbing a defensive rebound, Williams made a full court outlet pass to Arne, who tricked the defender with a pump-fake before making the layup. Williams drove to the basket and passed it to the open Arne, who made the jumpshot to put the score at 44-26 at the end of the third.

With not much drama for the remainder of the game, the Patriots coasted throughout the fourth quarter to put the final score at 53-42. In the game, the Patriots had the clear height advantage. Coach Graham made full use of this by prioritizing Arne and Klatt on offense.

“We knew we had a height advantage,” Williams said. “I think this game was more about getting into the flow of things and making sure we’re ready going into [Friday and Saturday].”

Stevenson has won nine out of the last ten games during which Klatt has had a string of successful performances. Looking forward to future games and the playoffs, she wants to continue what has worked for her and the team.

“I want to continue passing the ball [off offensive boards] because I know they’re going to double- or triple-team me,” Klatt said. “Really focusing on that kick-out pass—especially to the open shooter because they’ll hit the shot—is important.”

Stevenson hopes to be competitive in future games and Klatt’s ability to get offensive rebounds will be important for that. Being third in the North Suburban conference, the Patriots aim to establish themselves as a powerhouse.

“During our Christmas tournament, we upped our level to where we want to be,” Williams said. “Now it’s just about polishing everything off.”