5 Takeaways: Stevenson vs Waukegan
Friday night PrepHoopsIllinois checked out a battle between Stevenson and Waukegan for the top spot in the conference standings. It looked like this was going to be a blow out as Stevenson jumped out to a 28-9 lead on their…
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Continue ReadingFriday night PrepHoopsIllinois checked out a battle between Stevenson and Waukegan for the top spot in the conference standings. It looked like this was going to be a blow out as Stevenson jumped out to a 28-9 lead on their home floor. Waukegan made a run especially in the third quarter and actually ended up taking the lead briefly in the fourth. Stevenson closed with a monster run of their own to close out the game to win 63-56. Check out our 5 Takeaways: Stevenson vs Waukegan.
Return of Matt Ambrose
Stevenson looked solid when we saw them at the Hinsdale Central Tournament as they made a run to the consolation championship title. That was without their star player in 2020 shooting guard Matt Ambrose who was out with a finger injury. He makes a huge difference for this team as he showed in his return on Friday night. The first is with the way he shoots the ball. Ambrose is a plus three point shooter who opened this contest with a pair of threes. Impacts the game in more ways than with just his shooting. Mixed in some runners, fed the post, and was excellent rebounding. He had 18 points on the night.
Robert Holmes Brings Toughness Inside
Inside the main presence for the Patriots is 6’5” 2020 forward Robert Holmes. He is a little undersized, but brings a ton of toughness to the table. Fights hard on the glass and is a super bouncy athlete. Finished around the hoop on put backs and and-1s. Went for 8 points and 9 rebounds.
Big Shots Late and Team Ball Closes Out Win for Patriots
With the game on the line and his team down one with about 90 seconds left it was 2020 6’4” forward Matt Kaznikov who drilled two gigantic threes which flipped all the momentum back to the home team. The big bodied forward is a scrappy rebounder who had 18 points. Also a nice game from two Patriot guards in Luke Chieng and Evan Ambrose. Chieng is a 6’0” senior point guard who plays with a high IQ and makes sound decisions with the ball. He had 10 points. Sophomore point guard Evan Ambrose also stepped up showing slick ball handling and some moves around the hoop on his way to 4 points.
Tale of Two Halves for Waukegan
It was a complete lackluster effort early for Waukegan. They didn’t look interested in this game at all in the first half. No ball movement. No intensity on defense. Literally no energy at all. It looked like they were about to get run out of the gym as they were down 33-19 at half. Something changed at the end of the half and in to the third quarter. They got to the rim and started being aggressive. Jordan Brown and Jaylin Cunningham are a pair of talented seniors who flashed their slashing and scoring in the lane. Each made some big plays as the game went along. Brown had 9 points while Cunningham scored 8. Andre White also had his moments with his quickness scoring 9 points, but also struggled with turnovers. It was great to see them rally in the second half. Despite losing the game it gives them something to build on.
Evaluating Top 25 Senior Bryant Brown
Top prospect in this game was Waukegan senior 6’5” small forward Bryant Brown. The combo forward was much like his team in this contest. Early he seemed disinterested and all he wanted to do was shoot contested threes. For Brown it all started by seeing the ball go through the hoop at the free throw line a couple times. He then hit a pair of threes. Didn’t settle for it though as he was aggressive getting fouled on drives and got on the offensive boards for a few put backs. At times he did force some threes late, but overall Brown really turned things around in the second half playing with a higher energy level. He finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Brown has landed a handful of D2 offers over the last few weeks.