Kits Bounce Back, Claim 3rd At Fenton Tourney

Any resemblance between the Evanston basketball team that suffered its first defeat of the season Friday night and the one that showed up Saturday for the final round of the Fenton Thanksgiving Tournament can be considered purely coincidental.

Why? Because the Wildkits provided a glimpse of just how good they can be when they’re locked in on defense.

Locked in meant the Kits were able to lock down a 47-41 victory over Palatine Fremd in the third place game and allowed Coach Mike Ellis’ squad to score wins in three out of four games in their first appearance at the tournament.

Concluding the tourney on a winning note doesn’t obscure the fact that a young and inexperienced team still has work to do. But it will provide momentum for Evanston, which opens its Central Suburban League South division season next Friday at Deerfield.

Saturday, junior Theo Rocca scored a game-high 25 points and the Wildkits held Fremd scoreless for a four and one-half minute stretch of the fourth quarter when the game was decided. Evanston showed grit and toughness during a 12-0 run after the Vikings (2-2) had snatched the lead at 37-33 with an 8-0 run to start the period.

Rocca, who was selected to the all-tournament team along with teammate Antoine Thomas, scored 7 points in the fourth quarter. On the night he connected on 9-of-18 field goal attempts and already looks comfortable in the role of a “go-to” player for the Wildkits. Ian Peters added 10 points for the winners, who shot 39 percent from the field after a slow start.

Fremd only converted 3-of-12 field goal attempts with the game on the line and finished at 29 percent overall. Ryan Cox and Sam Hirsch each netted 12 points for the losers.

“It’s a mark of how well you’re playing when you don’t let other teams get runs against you,” Ellis said. “We had our run in the first half, and when they had their run and took the lead back, we just hoped it was turning into a game of runs and we’d get another one.

“We played harder and we played smarter down the stretch tonight. We finished on a good foot after we didn’t play our best game yesterday. We had to prove that (really) wasn’t us. I liked the attention to detail that we showed tonight because we were more locked in for a full 32 minutes.”

The Rocca brothers --- junior Theo and freshman Vito --- played major roles in the fourth quarter comeback. Evanston enjoyed a 33-29 advantage entering the period, but Friday’s fourth quarter defensive collapse against eventual tournament champion Rolling Meadows was still fresh in the minds of ETHS fans.

And when Fremd opened the quarter with a 3-point bucket by Hirsch, an old-fashioned 3-point play from Cox, plus two Ryan Brown free throws, no one knew just how the Kits would respond.

What did they do? They dug down deep and answered with clutch plays from the Rocca brothers, including a steal of a pass at halfcourt by Vito that resulted in a layup and a lead (at 38-37) that Evanston never relinquished.

The younger Rocca contributed 4 rebounds in the fourth quarter and big brother Theo followed that momentum changing steal with a baseline jumper from 12 feet, and a 3-point shot to help the Kits take control again.

“Vito Rocca does things you don’t expect to see from a freshman,” Ellis pointed out. “He makes plays that show up in the box score, and he makes plays that don’t show up in the box score. He had a lot of key rebounds and box-outs (under the basket) tonight, and he kept their key player (Jordan Williams, who fouled out after netting only 3 points) off the boards. That kid made the all-tournament team, but our freshman more or less won that matchup. I’m very pleased with the way he played.

“Theo Rocca is definitely a college basketball player, although I’m not sure what level. I think Theo is on a mission because he’s not getting the attention with his game that others on the North Shore are getting.

“We certainly understand how good he is.”