Defense Shuts Deerfield Down In CSL South Opener

The next open look Deerfield’s basketball team gets against Evanston’s man-to-man defense won’t happen until the two teams play again.

It didn’t happen Friday night in the Warriors’ gym.

Suffocating defense that rarely even allowed Deerfield to get a shot off powered the Wildkits to a 39-34 triumph in the Central Suburban League South opener for both teams. The matchup marked Deerfield’s first taste of CSL South play after switching divisions this year.

Evanston might not be the best team Deerfield encounters in a South division that is typically loaded. But it’s safe to say the losers won’t face a better man-to-man defense.

Fighting through screens for minutes at a time on defense, ETHS limited the Warriors to just 18 field goal attempts over the first three quarters. Deerfield fell behind 33-17 entering the fourth quarter, before the visitors turned the ball over 9 times while trying to run out the clock and allowed the hosts to creep back and post a final respectable margin.

Deerfield (2-3) scored a total of 9 field goals, 4 of them coming in the fourth quarter comeback.

Evanston (4-1 overall) prevailed behind Theo Rocca’s 14 points and 7 rebounds, and 11 points, 3 assists and 3 steals from Brandon Watson. The Wildkits have now held 3 of their first 5 foes under 50 points, the goal set by head coach Mike Ellis on a game-by-game basis ever since he took over the program.

Friday, the Wildkits found a way to win even when the ball wasn’t going through the basket on a consistent basis.

“I’m really impressed with the way our guys played defense tonight,” Ellis praised. “It’s a lot easier to play consistent defense than it is to play consistent offense.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t allow Deerfield to get out on any runs, because they have a lot of good shooters. Offensively we were a little out of sync, but our defense led the way tonight.

“It’s not glamorous when you’re out there fighting through screens like we did. They didn’t want to let their teammates down by getting screened and they’re doing a great job of playing defense as a unit. I thought defense would be a concern for us this year (with no starters returning), but their discipline, and intelligence, and will to play defense has really been strong. I’m happy to see them buy in to what can really help us the rest of the season.”

Evanston only trailed once in the game --- down 2-0 --- as Deerfield mustered just two baskets in the first 14 minutes of play. Rocca netted 5 points in the second quarter and Antoine Thomas added a drive for a score in a deliberate half that ended at 18-12 in Evanston’s favor.

Evanston’s patient play didn’t produce any points at all in the first three and a half minutes of the second half. But the Wildkits didn’t lose the lead, either, and finally woke up thanks to Watson’s fast break bucket, back-to-back 3-point shots by Rocca, a Watson trey and a pair of scores by Morgan Brown.

Deerfield rattled off 15 points in the last 4 minutes of the contest, capitalizing on double-team pressure that cost the winners several possessions.

Closest the host could get was at 38-34 on a 3-point toss by Charlie Robin (15 points) with 12 seconds remaining. Rocca’s free throw helped clinch the victory.

“When you play defense like that, you can afford to be patient on offense. We didn’t take any bad shots tonight,” said Ellis. “In the fourth quarter we were trying to score and take some time off the clock at the same time, but it backfired because we got a little too casual with the ball against their double teams.

“I thought Brandon Watson’s fingerprints were all over this game tonight. He did a good job of quarterbacking our offense, and he was the head of the snake on defense, too. Any time you can play well in someone else’s house, like we did tonight, that’s special. Winning on the road will determine who wins the CSL South this year.”