Fast Start Fuels Win For Wildkits

It didn’t take long for Evanston’s basketball team to wipe away the taste of a bad fourth quarter left over from Friday night.

A perfect start to the next game was just what the Wildkits needed – and delivered.

Connecting on their first 7 field goal attempts in Saturday’s matinee date with Schaumburg, the Kits rolled to a 58-46 victory in a matchup of 12-win teams.

Now 13-6 overall, Evanston leaned on a balanced offensive effort after mustering just one field goal in the fourth quarter of a loss to Glenbrook South on Friday night. Double figure performances from Brandon Watson (13 points), Theo Rocca (12) and Morgan Brown (10), plus a combined 17 points from two seniors who have been non-scorers --- Jonny Dickson and Tyler Dennis --- helped the Wildkits bounce back in front of a sparse afternoon crowd at Beardsley Gymnasium.

Schaumburg never recovered from Evanston’s opening offensive punch despite a game-high 18 points from Jordan Tunis and fell to 12-7 on the season.

Evanston shot 57 percent (20-of-35) from the floor in a sustained offensive effort that was backed, as usual, by stout defense. It’s almost deserving of a headline when the Wildkits DON’T reach their pre-game goal of limiting foes to less than 50 points since they’ve accomplished that feat in most of their games so far.

Dickson, who has earned his starting spot in the lineup with his defensive smarts, sank all three of his field goal attempts --- including a pair of 3-pointers --- while Rocca tossed in a pair of 3-point buckets. Brown also stashed in his first two attempts, helping the winners build a 19-11 cushion after the first quarter.

Evanston led 32-19 at the halftime intermission and 46-34 after three quarters, and traded points with the visitors in the final period for the 12-point margin.

“I thought the key for us was getting off to a good start against their zone,” said ETHS head coach Mike Ellis. “If you miss shots early, you start to second-guess yourself and wonder, am I going to be on or off tonight? When you can score 19 points like that right out of the gate, it makes a big difference.

“We have to understand that we can’t get complacent, or too comfortable, just because we have a good stretch in a game. You have to be the aggressor and take it to the other team. It was good to see us play with more sustainability than we did last night. We felt like we owned 75 percent of that game against Glenbrook South, we just had a bad fourth quarter.”

Watson, who didn’t attempt a single shot in the first quarter, broke loose for 8 points in the second period. The senior point guard added four assists --- same as Antoine Thomas --- and also contributed three rebounds for the winners.

Dennis came off the end of the bench --- he likely hasn’t played this many minutes in a game since his sophomore season --- to complement that effort with 7 points in the second half.

“It was really good to see Brandon bounce back (and play) with that kind of desire,” Ellis praised. “He had a better floor game than against GBS. Today he had more of a desire to be involved in the outcome of plays, and we needed that. As a team, I felt our communication was really good at both ends of the court. We were really in tune mentally.

“Tyler Dennis is one of our captains for a reason. He had a great week of practice --- he always goes hard in practice --- and his success is built on his ability to think of others first. He’s always trying to make his teammates better.”

Dennis, who averages just under two points per game, made sure the Wildkits maintained a double digit lead late in the third quarter. After the Saxons had pulled within 39-29, Dennis rebounded a missed Rocca shot, then scored a steal and dunk to push the lead back to 14 points.

Rocca’s 3-point basket at the buzzer, off an inbounds play, put the hosts in a comfort zone for the last eight minutes.

Evanston will host Niles North Tuesday in a Central Suburban League crossover contest.