By Mike Clark

With a gym packed to the rafters and two of the state’s best Class 3A teams going head to head, this felt more like March than December.

Lindblom faced the host Kays in the Maroon Division championship of the 73rd Kankakee Holiday Tournament on Friday night and Cleveland State recruit Je’Shawn Stevenson was up to the task.

Stevenson scored in every way possible — long-range 3-pointers, drives to the basket, pull-up jumpers — and finished with a game-high 40 points for the Eagles.

But Kankakee’s 13-0 run to close the first half proved to be the difference in a 78-66 win.

The loss stung, but Stevenson considered it to be a teachable moment.

“We knew what we (were) going up against,” Stevenson said. “It was pretty much literally the whole city of Kankakee vs. Lindblom. I was telling the guys before the game, every play is not going to go our way, especially in an environment (like that).”

Kankakee (13-1) led 40-27 after that big second-quarter run, but Lindblom (11-5) never let the deficit get any bigger. The Eagles got as close as five in the fourth quarter at 61-56 and were still down just 68-62 with 2:47 left before the Kays iced it.

“The game was pretty much in striking distance,” Stevenson said. “But (there’s) certain plays we’ve got to do better in given the atmosphere. That’s a state atmosphere, everybody pretty much against us.”

Quentin McCoy added 14 points, but the rest of the Eagles combined for just 12 points. Kankakee, meanwhile, had four scorers in double figures: Lincoln Williams with 26 points, Maroon MVP Larenz Walters with 20, Damontae May with 13 and Eli Stipp with 10.

Finding more offensive options will be a point of emphasis going forward, Lindblom coach Narvel Newson said.

“He’s an outstanding ballplayer, he doesn’t want to lose,” Newson said of Stevenson. “We’ve got to get him some more help from the other guys.” 

Lindblom was scoreless in the final 4:02 of the second quarter during the Kays’ decisive surge.

“We kind of ran out of gas a little bit,” Newson said. “But also we got frustrated with the calls, the inconsistent calls … so it’s kind of hard to play under those circumstances.”

Lindblom has a nonconference game against Nicolet (Wis.) on Jan. 6 at Hyde Park before returning to Public League Red South-Central play Jan. 9 at home against Brooks.

“We’re going to practice and prepare for the (stretch) run,” Newson said. “We’ve got some very important conference games to play.”

Experiences like Friday can only help the Eagles when the stakes rise, Newson and Stevenson said.

“At the end of the day, it’s about learning,” he said. “And then when the playoffs start, everybody’s 0-0.”

“There’s a few mistakes here and there that could have decided that game,” Stevenson said. “Our biggest thing, we can’t be tripping about the refs and all that. … We’ve just got to find a way to not let this affect us and keep our heads.”