The season opener for Evanston’s girls basketball team was so one-sided Tuesday night that the only drama remaining for the second half was whether or not any of the four freshmen who saw action would break through and score her first varsity points.
Two of them did. But Wildkit fans aren’t ready for a changing of the guard yet, not after the energy supplied by seniors Kailey Starks, Zuri Ransom and Arianna Milam-Pryor almost blew the roof off of Beardsley Gymnasium in Evanston’s 63-19 romp over Buffalo Grove.
The trio combined for 47 points, 20 rebounds and too many steals to count in a slaughter rule victory that put the running clock in effect for the fourth quarter.
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A relentless Evanston defense forced 27 turnovers and the Kits didn’t let up in the second half after leading 42-8 at halftime. Buffalo Grove only scored two baskets in the last two periods.
That’s the kind of energy ETHS head coach Brittanny Johnson would love to see repeated when the Kits get off the bus to play their first road game Saturday at perennial power Bolingbrook.
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“They’ve been playing against each other for so long the last couple of weeks in practice and they were ready to play somebody else tonight,” said Johnson. “Our intensity was SO good. They were really ready to go.
“I think the energy we had tonight was the best we’ve had in any opener since I’ve been here, and it spilled over from the commitment they made in the preseason. We were able to hit the ground running tonight.
“We made a lot of changes in our offense over the summer and we’ve changed some things on defense, too, even though historically we’re a man-to-man team. We were able to put things in motion right away. We wanted to be more disciplined defensively, too, and I’ve learned in the past 8 years that you can’t just play one way on defense. We’re trying to keep our opponents unsure about what we’re going to do next.”
Tuesday, the Wildkits just overpowered the Bison guards --- that is, when they weren’t in the passing lanes anticipating the ball coming their way. Starks showed the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but Ransom (15 points) and Milam-Pryor (14) also reached double figures for the winners.
Evanston broke out to a 19-4 first quarter advantage and the visitors didn’t even reach double figures as a team until the 4:50 mark of the third period.
And for the record, first-year players Jayla McClure-Calvin and Payton King did net the first points of their respective varsity careers. McClure-Calvin’s first score came on a feed from Milam-Pryor with 3 minutes left in the third quarter, and King broke through on a drive to the bucket about 45 seconds later. She also scored a field goal in the fourth quarter.
Freshmen Camille Calixte, who earlier came off the bench to rally the ETHS sophomore squad to a victory, and Ka’Liyah Copeland will have to wait for their next opportunity after only playing a few minutes.
“I give the freshmen an A for effort,” Johnson smiled. “You could tell each one was really nervous before the game. But this was the perfect home opener for us.”
