The Stevenson Patriots won their first home game 60-55 in overtime against the Libertyville Wildcats in their home opener on Wednesday night. Coming off a 23-9 overall record and a tough loss against Palatine in the Sectional Finals last season, the Patriots returned to their home court with a packed student section to ring in their new season.
The Patriots began the game aggressively, winning the tipoff, and Liam Curtin ’25 knocking down a three-pointer just 50 seconds into the first quarter. The starting line up for this game was Aidan Bardic ’25, Donovan Williams ’26, Atticus Richmond ’25, Logan Shrout ’25 and Liam Curtin ’25, leaving 12 on the sideline.
“Especially when we play conference opponents, the (non starting players), our white team guys, do a good job of practicing the plays the other teams run, kind of replicating how they’re gonna play,” Bardic said. “I think they did a good job all week doing that, so me and other guys on the team were able to benefit from that.”
At the half, Stevenson was up 26-19, and came back into the game strong. To the crowd’s delight, Spencer Flynn ’25 recovered the ball on a rebound with 1:17 to go in the third quarter and passed it to Richmond for a slam dunk. Karthik Krishnarajah ’26 believes the team balanced both the physical and mental parts of the game well.
“I think communication and playing together as one (is important to our success),” Krishnarajah said. “Whenever we do that, we always find a way to get it done and we just gotta keep doing that moving forward.”
Despite the Patriots lead, Libertyville began to rally in the fourth quarter with a series of strong plays that brought the Wildcats within one point 43-42, with 4:50 left on the clock. After the game became tied at 44-44, Richmond scored after a key rebound, securing a two point lead.
Tied back up at 48-48 with only 15 seconds remaining and coming off of a strategic timeout by Libertyville, Bardic attempted to drive through three defenders but lost the ball. Richmond came back up with it but didn’t have enough time to set up a good shot, bringing the game into overtime.
Stevenson won the overtime tipoff yet again, and with Bardic back on the ball, he blew past the defenders to score a quick layup. As soon as the Wildcats got possession, Bardic intercepted a pass for yet another two points, widening the point difference to four within 25 seconds of the start of overtime.
From there on out, it was smooth sailing for the Patriots, with the closest point difference being three with a mere seven seconds left in the game. Sealing the victory against the Wildcats and getting a win early in the season was no doubt a success, but the team is planning to continue their growth in preparation for their upcoming games.
“We have a lot to learn from this game,” Bardic said. “We have to start games better, finish quarters better, and take advantage of every possession.”
Head coach Will Benson, in his second year with the Patriots, echoed Bardic’s statement, emphasizing the need for greater consistency both offensively and defensively. With this in mind, the Patriots hit the road this Saturday night for an away game against Mundelein.
“At the end of the day, it’s a hard conference, it’s hard to win games,” Bardic said. “Coming out with the win is coming out with the win, we’ll take it and move on tomorrow and try to get ready for Mundelein.”