Retired Theatre Teacher Joel Johnson Dies
Retired SHS theatre teacher and professional playwright Joel Drake Johnson died Saturday at the age of 70, after a lengthy battle with cancer. The Nachusa, Ill., native began teaching at Stevenson in 1985, and was instrumental in the expansion of the school’s theatre curriculum. In his spare time, Johnson wrote plays that were produced at a number of Chicago-area theatres, including Steppenwolf and Victory Gardens. His play “Rasheeda Speaking,” which made its Chicago debut in 2013, eventually played off-Broadway with a cast that included Dianne Wiest and Tonya Pinkins. Johnson also helped budding student-playwrights at Stevenson by developing the TBA Playwrights Club. In 2002, three of his students were winners in a national youth playwriting contest. “I don’t think anything has meant as much as when those three kids won their awards,” he said prior to his retirement from Stevenson in 2005. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Consortium Orchestra Concert Tuesday Night
Students from five sender schools will join SHS strings students for the annual Consortium Orchestra Concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Performing Arts Center. Students from Aptakisic and Daniel Wright junior high schools, and Fremont, Twin Groves and Woodlawn middle schools, will perform as one group to open the concert.
After the youngsters perform, Stevenson’s Concert Orchestra, Advanced Concert Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra and Patriot Orchestra, plus the Guitar Techniques 2 and Patriot Guitar groups, will play.
Admission is free. The concert also will be streamed live on the Fine Arts Division’s Vimeo channel. The Consortium Band Festival will close out the consortium concert schedule at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Performing Arts Center.
Archery Team Takes Second, Fifth at Metamora Tournament
The SHS archery team opened its season at the Metamora High School tournament on Saturday. The varsity finished second with a score of 3,241 points, while the junior varsity was fifth with 2,922. Junior Malachi Park took third in the male division with a score of 285 (including 19 bullseyes) and senior Carina Spaeth was third in the female division with a score of 283 (17 bullseyes). Two others finished in the top 10 in the female division: senior Sylvia Zhang was eighth (276, 12 bullseyes) and senior Caitlin Goldberg tied for 10th (274, 11).
Stevenson Shines on “The Jam”
Stevenson was featured on WCIU-TV’s “The Jam” morning show on Friday, as part of the station’s coverage of the SHS-Mundelein boys basketball game that night. Click here to watch highlights from Friday’s show.
Baseball Team Fundraiser Today
The baseball team is holding a fundraiser at Prairie House Tavern from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. today. Mention “SHS baseball,” and 20% of the proceeds will go to the team.
Sunday’s Varsity Results
Cheerleading
Stevenson at Buffalo Grove Invitational: The Patriots finished second among 24 teams, and posted their highest raw score of the season (94.07). Stevenson ended with a final score of 92.07, behind Neuqua Valley’s 93.31.
Boys Ice Hockey
New Trier Green 3, Stevenson 2: Senior Josh Wright and junior Andrew Chambers scored the Patriot goals at North Shore Ice Arena in Northbrook. Senior goalie Jeremy Riback made 21 saves.
Saturday’s Varsity Results
Wrestling
Stevenson at Randy Conrad Invitational: The Patriots won the tournament at Leyden for the third consecutive year, getting individual championships from freshman Lorenzo Frezza at 113 pounds, sophomore Cole Rhemrev at 120, and junior Kei Yamato at 132. Their title-winning victories, all over opponents from Conant, allowed SHS to edge the Cougars in the team standings, 224.5-212. Cole improved to 24-4 on the season, Lorenzo moved to 22-4, and Kei advanced to 20-6. The Patriots received a trio of second-place showings, from senior Randy Lu (126) and juniors Alex Swidler (106) and Arad Peregoudov (145). SHS also had three wrestlers finish third: sophomore Joseph Hooge (195) and juniors Michael Crawford (220) and Keegan Houlihan (285). Senior Ethan Klondar was fourth at 138, sophomore Jacob Whiting finished fifth at 170, and junior Arie Guzman took sixth at 160. – Daily Herald | Official Results
Girls Basketball
Stevenson 66, Waukegan 43: Senior Avery King led all scorers with a career-high 26 points and sophomore Simone Sawyer added 17 for the Patriots (15-6, 3-3) on the road. Avery scored 14 points in the first half as SHS built a 35-25 lead, then scored 12 more in the third quarter as Stevenson pulled away with a 21-10 surge. She sank three of the team’s eight 3–pointers. Simone, meanwhile, went 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Junior Nikki Ware and sophomore Ava Bardic added eight points apiece.
Boys Diving
Stevenson at New Trier Winter Diving Classic Invitational: Sophomore Jack White took top honors in the field of 23 divers, and freshman Danny Silverstein placed third, leading SHS to the team title. Jack posted a season-high score of 443.85, nearly 80 points higher than the runner-up from New Trier, while Danny also recorded a season-high total of 364.95. Their combined score of 808.80 earned the team trophy, ahead of Maine West (694.60).
Boys Bowling
Stevenson at Warren Invitational: The Patriots won their second tournament in as many days, this time at Bertrand Lanes in Waukegan. Junior Nicholas Sternes won the individual championship with a 1,369 six-game series. He opened his march to the title with a 279, rolling 11 consecutive strikes to close Game 1. Junior Ryan Lerman finished sixth with a 1,266 series and high game of 268. Juniors Maxwell Goldstein (1,182, 215), Joey Gluck (1,157, 248) and Ryan Grabiner (1,150, 220), and freshman Ender Starr (1,108, 228) rounded out the Patriot roster. Stevenson recorded a six-game series score of 6,213. Only the top five scorers in each game counted toward the team total, but all bowlers rolled six games. Stevenson concludes its regular season with matches against Grayslake Central and Glenbrook North on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, then takes part in the IHSA Glenbrook North Regional tournament Saturday at Bowlero in Mt. Prospect.
Girls Gymnastics
Stevenson at Evanston Invitational: Senior Emily Weinstein won the all-around competition and two individual events, leading the Patriots to a third-place finish among 10 schools. Emily captured the floor exercise (9.50) and uneven bars (9.40), and also had an eighth-place effort on balance beam (8.95) en route to an all-around score of 36.90. Freshman Ashley Schabes tied for sixth on uneven bars (9.15) and tied for 10th in the all-around (34.85). Junior Ainslee Cutler was eighth on uneven bars (9.10), while sophomore Ally Gitler had a pair of ninth-place finishes, on vault (9.325) and floor (8.80). The Patriots posted a team score of 140.825, behind Glenbrook South (145.125) and New Trier (144.350). – Official Results
Fencing
Stevenson at Maine West Duals: The Patriot boys swept their five matches while the girls went 4-1. The SHS boys beat Deerfield-Highland Park (25-2), Evanston (22-5), New Trier (21-6), Maine West (23-4) and Glenbrook South (21-6). The girls defeated Deerfield-Highland Park (16-11), Evanston (19-8), Maine West (19-8) and Glenbrook South (19-8), and lost to New Trier (18-9).
Boys Swimming
Stevenson at Evanston Invitational: The Patriots placed fifth out of 18 teams with 181 points, behind Glenbrook South (318), Loyola Academy (289), St. Charles North (223) and New Trier (215). Sophomore Josh Song recorded the best finish for Stevenson, placing second in the 100-yard butterfly (51.22). Senior Ari Zaritsky was fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.65). The pair comprised half of the fourth-place 200 medley relay (1:38.38), along with seniors Jack Zhang and Jake Kim. Jake and Jack swam two legs of the fifth-place 400 relay (3:16.88) with senior AJ Carollo and freshman Jonny Farber. – Official Results
Boys Ice Hockey
New Trier Green 9, Stevenson 0: The Trevians spoiled Senior Night at Twin Rinks. – Boxscore | SHL Video replay
Friday’s Varsity Results
Boys Bowling
Stevenson at North Suburban Conference Tournament: The Patriots won the inaugural NSC conference tournament, held at Bowlero in Deer Park, and the overall championship. SHS topped Libertyville for the overall points title, 155-142, based on dual matches during the season, points in the conference meet and overall pinfall in the tournament. The Patriots had a balanced effort. Junior Ryan Grabiner finished third in the tournament to lead SHS; he had a 1,307 series that included games of 236 and 234. Junior Ryan Lerman was sixth (1,277, 259 high game), freshman Ender Starr (1,269, 268) placed eighth, and junior Joey Gluck (1,262, 289) was ninth, with junior Nicholas Sternes (1,173, 220) also contributing to the title. Stevenson ,which entered the tournament with a nine-point edge, had the highest team tournament score among six schools, 6,288 for six games, edging Libertyville by 157 pins. Stevenson finished the NSC regular season with a 9-1 record, with its only loss to Libertyville. – Daily Herald
Boys Basketball
Stevenson 67, Mundelein 64: Four seniors scored in double figures as the host Patriots (12-3, 4-0) won the battle for first place in the North Suburban Conference before a large crowd in the Sports Center. John Ittounas led SHS with a season-high 18 points, Matt Kaznikov had 17, and Matthew Ambrose and RJ Holmes contributed 10 apiece. RJ also had 10 rebounds for Stevenson, which has won the last seven NSC titles. The Mustangs (13-2, 4-1) scored the opening basket of the game but never led again. Stevenson led by nine points after the first quarter and by 11 at halftime, 31-20. MHS rallied in the second half, but the Pats put the game away with a 10-3 run in the fourth quarter that extended their lead to 12. Trey Baker, who transferred to Mundelein after attending SHS for two years, led all scorers with 22 points. – Pioneer Press, Daily Herald | NFHS Network replay
Wrestling
Stevenson 77, Waukegan 6: The Patriots registered three pins in the five matches that took place on the road: Senior Ethan Klondar (1:11) at 138, junior Arie Guzman (1:01) at 160, and junior Keegan Houlihan (2:50) at 285. Sophomore Jacob Whiting had a 15-0 technical fall (2:30) at 182. SHS also benefitted from nine forfeits. – Official Results
Stevenson Daily Digest 