The schedule for Evanston’s girls basketball team this season represents a Who’s Who among the elite teams in the state of Illinois this year.
The Wildkits have already played the favorite to win the Class 4A state championship this year --- Bolingbrook --- and they’ll also visit one of the top challengers for the 3A title, Nazareth Academy, next month.
And in the second round of action Thursday at the Morton College Christmas Tournament, the Kits got an up close look at one of the leading contenders in Class 2A.
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Peoria Notre Dame piled up 38 points in the first half and went to score a 60-35 slaughter rule victory in the tournament quarterfinals, dropping Evanston into the 5th place bracket. The Wildkits, now 9-4 overall, will face Geneva on Friday at 5 p.m.
Notre Dame, now 16-2, advanced by hassling the Wildkits with a 1-2-2 fullcourt zone press and also counted 11 3-point baskets in the rout. Guard Julia Mingus fired in a game-high 24 points, including six 3-point buckets, and Emy Wardle added 15.
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The Irish, ranked fourth in the first Associated Press state 2A poll of the season, will face Alton in the semifinals.
Kailey Starks paced Evanston with 16 points and 7 rebounds and Zuri Ransom, limited by an ankle injury she suffered in the tourney opener, added 13 points but didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
“We’re just not following the game plans, and it’s because we’re so young,” said ETHS head coach Brittanny Johnson, who often has three freshmen on the court at the same time. “We’re struggling with different defensive concepts, and if one person is off, then there’s a domino effect. Even when we made that run against them (at the start of the third quarter) in the second half, we reverted right back to what we did (wrong) in the first half.
“Zuri wasn’t herself tonight and we really needed a second ballhandler against their press. It’s not even really a press --- they’re just trying to slow you down --- but not having another ballhandler was really an issue for us. That’s a really good team, and after you lose in this tournament, you still have to play a really good team.”
Evanston turned the ball over 12 times in the first half and fell behind 38-19 at the intermission. Baskets by Starks and Ransom to open the second half cut the margin to 38-24, and the Kits never got any closer. The running clock went into effect two minutes into the fourth quarter.
