Lindblom coach Narvel Newson is a soft-spoken guy who doesn’t seek the spotlight. It has been a major week for the No. 21 Eagles, with a win against Kenwood and a loss to Hyde Park.
On Saturday, after his team beat Lincoln-Way East 76-65 at the Team Rose Shootout at Mount Carmel, Newson was ready to make a bold statement.
“We’re going to win the city,” Newson said. “I don’t have to think about it. No thinking. We’re going to do it. City and state, that’s the goal.”
Newson is confident in his team, which has grown and played together for a few years. But the reason he’s suddenly in the prediction business is Je’Shawn Stevenson.
Stevenson, a strong 6-4 guard, has been one of the area’s top scorers for several seasons. He was the leading scorer in the Red-South/Central last year. Lindblom was 18-15 and 4-5 in the conference. The points just didn’t seem to matter enough to elevate Stevenson into the conversation about the area’s elite players.
Throw all that out the window. Stevenson, who signed with Cleveland State, is much more than a scorer as a senior. He’s doing everything on the court, and his team is winning.
“He’s so mature now,” Newson said. “He runs the team. He’s more confident. He’s scoring when he needs to score and passing when he needs to pass. It’s a big difference.”
Stevenson had 35 points, six steals, five rebounds and a block. Every time the Griffins pulled close, he seemed to have an answer.
“There is no doubt he’s the best player in the city,” Newson said. “No doubt.”
Lincoln-Way East (5-2) led 54-53 early in the fourth. Stevenson scored 12 points in the next 3:30 to seal the win for the Eagles (4-2).
“We had to go out and show that beating Kenwood wasn’t a fluke,” Stevenson said. “We had a letdown against [Hyde Park] because of a few mistakes.”
Sophomore Kaydin Williams scored 13 for Lindblom, and Kolby Capers added 10 points. Senior Quentin McCoy has been Stevenson’s running mate the last three years. He finished with five points. Junior Brent Taylor led Lincoln-Way East with 21 points, and sophomore Brenden Sanders scored 15.
Brother Rice remains unbeaten
The biggest game of the day, No. 4 Bloom vs. No. 9 Brother Rice, was a battle of wills. Neither team shot well or played well overall. The Crusaders won 47-45 in triple overtime. The score was tied at 14 at halftime.
“I wasn’t hitting shots; no one was hitting shots,” Brother Rice guard Cale Cosme said. “But we found our way defensively down the stretch and made some huge free throws.”
Cosme made it 45-45 with 3:26 left in the third OT. Marcos Gonzales made two free throws 3:10 later for the winning margin.
“We just had to grind it out,” Brother Rice senior Zavier Fitch said. “I tried to rebound and keep playing defense. Winning a game like that shows a lot about us.”
Fitch had nine points and 17 rebounds and Cosme scored 14 for the Crusaders (9-0).
Payton Edwards led Bloom (5-2) with 13 points, and Elijah Allen, a transfer from Nicaragua, added 13 points and 13 rebounds.
A Brother Rice player shoved a Bloom player in the third overtime. Blazing Trojans coach Dante Maddox was upset that it was called a double technical. He was never told what his player did.
“It was a tough game, but we will just take the experience from it,” Maddox said. “I’m happy with our heart. Both teams played through and showed a tremendous amount of heart.”
