Kits Complete Uphill Climb With Overtime Win

Maybe Evanston’s basketball team just prefers doing things the hard way.

But you can’t question the results.

After another long uphill climb in a game they never led in regulation, the Wildkits rallied past De La Salle and celebrated Senior Night Monday at Beardsley Gym with a 65-62 overtime victory.

It marked the third victory in four days for a resilient group of players who are finding different ways to win every night. Now 18-9 on the season, the Wildkits survived a pair of misses by their best free throw shooters --- Theo Rocca and Brandon Watson --- in the final 22 seconds of the overtime period.

De La Salle, which filled an open date on the ETHS schedule after Niles West backed out of rescheduling a Central Suburban League crossover game, had a chance to force another OT but a 3-point attempt by star guard Richard Lindsey (game-high 25 points) at the buzzer glanced off the front of the rim.

The final chapter of the basketball legacy left behind by the Class of 2024 will be written after the months of February and March. But head coach Mike Ellis would certainly agree that there’s no quit in this group.

“I’ve known all along that these players have a lot of character. This is a great bunch of guys, and the word I’d use would be grit,” said Ellis. “I could probably count on one hand --- maybe with two fingers --- the number of times I’ve had a team win a game they didn’t lead in (for four quarters). Our resolve was really good tonight. They didn’t get down when things looked desperate and De La Salle was making tough shots against them.

“They played with a little more toughness in the second half, and they didn’t fold.”

ETHS was paced by Rocca with 19 points, Watson with 16 and Jonny Dickson with 10. The Meteors, who shot 57 percent from the field in the first half with a mid-range team game not often seen these days at the high school level, cooled off in the second half and didn’t have another player in double figures besides Lindsey.

Clutch baskets and clutch defensive stops helped the hosts pull out of a 46-37 hole after three quarters. They still trailed 56-50 when Lindsey (11-of-21 from the field) scored in the lane with about two and a half minutes to play.

But a 3-point basket by Ian Peters kept the Kits within striking distance. Charles Barnes countered with a pair of free throws for the Meteors at the 1:25 mark --- and the visitors never scored again in the period.

Leading 58-55 with a minute left, De La Salle buckled under pressure with a pair of traveling calls whistled against them. Morgan Brown, one of six seniors on the roster, splashed a 3-point shot from the top of the key with 10 seconds remaining to pull ETHS even at 58-58.

Dickson’s 3-point bucket from the corner on the first possession was the opening salvo in the overtime and signaled Evanston’s first lead. The hosts spread the floor in the last two minutes and converted 4-of-6 free throw opportunities, including a 3-for-4 effort from Watson at the charity stripe.

“Our seniors haven’t been dynamite at home this year, so this is very big for them,” noted Ellis. “We were able to maintain a long possession there in the overtime because Brandon and Ian did a great job of rattling a minute off the clock (with their ballhandling and passing). And Ian took a huge charge for us, too, on a play that would have been an and-one (basket and free throw) that had him buried under the basket. He did a great job in the guts of that game.”

Watson summed up another comeback win with the wisdom of a senior.

“We found a way to score, and we got some stops in the second half,” he said. “It was an uphill battle just like the St. Patrick game Saturday. It’s about resilience and playing big at the end of games.

“I feel like we are getting better as a team. I felt like we gave up, a little, in the games against New Trier and Glenbrook North, but we didn’t give up tonight. We beat two teams with big-time Division I players Saturday and tonight, and as long as we play hard and we don’t give up, I feel like we can beat anybody in the state.”

“They played three games in four days and that really takes a toll on you,” Ellis added. “They did a heckuva job taking that challenge head on, and not just being satisfied with any one of those wins.”

Evanston plays at New Trier Friday night in a Central Suburban League South division showdown.