Kits Pull Away From Deerfield In Second Half

With a rare Wednesday night conference game --- following a day off when the closing of school didn’t allow his team to practice --- Evanston head coach Mike Ellis didn’t quite know what to expect from his basketball team.

But he always knows what he’s going to get from Jonny Dickson.

Dickson scored a career-high 15 points and the Wildkits pulled away from Deerfield in the second half for a decisive 53-34 victory at Beardsley Gymnasium to open the second round of Central Suburban League South division competition on a successful note.

All of the rest of Evanston’s conference games are on the road, including Friday’s trip to play division leader Glenbrook North. Wednesday’s contest was a makeup of a postponement from last Friday versus Deerfield.

Now 15-7 overall, the Kits evened their conference mark at 3-3. The offensively challenged Warriors fell to 8-8 and 1-5, respectively.

Ellis tinkered with several different lineup combinations Wednesday, including the first start of the season for sophomore Timi Ogunsanya, and brought junior Theo Rocca --- the team’s leading scorer --- off the bench to change things up. Rocca still delivered 9 points in just 16 minutes of court time.

Dickson, a senior guard more noted for his defensive prowess, sank 6-of-10 field goal attempts, including a 3-for-7 from 3-point range. As a team, Evanston fired in 10-of-27 tries from beyond the 3-point arc against Deerfield’s 1-3-1 zone.

The Wildkits showed their progress as a team with a strong finish, after almost blowing a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter the first time the two teams met.

“Playing on a Wednesday, it’s not the typical Tuesday-Friday schedule or anything like what it usually is. So I just thought let’s find out who’s ready to play, and who isn’t,” said Ellis regarding his changing lineup. “We just wanted to give the guys some opportunities tonight. We closed out that fourth quarter (outscoring the Warriors 16-7) a lot better than the first time we played them.

“Jonny Dickson is gaining confidence and experience, both at the same time. This game honors effort, and he puts in the most effort for us. Jonny is Jonny, every single possession, every single game. The players who are the most consistent like that end up reaping the benefits.

“This was our last conference home game and it was good to seniors go out like that and play as well as we did. Deerfield plays a good matchup zone, and the first time we played them we only got one or two transition baskets against them. Tonight we got some scoring opportunities in transition, especially later in the game, and when you can get out and do that then you don’t have to deal with that matchup zone.”

With maybe 100 spectators in the stands, the Wildkits had to build their own energy from the opening tip and stretched the lead from 10-9 at the first quarter break to 23-17 by the halftime intermission. A putback of a missed shot by Antoine Thomas midway through the second period gave ETHS a lead it never relinquished, as Rocca connected on a pair of 3-point buckets, including a buzzer beater from the right corner on an inbounds play.

Dickson did a little bit of everything for the hosts in the third quarter, when they outscored the Warriors 14-10. On the first possession of the second half, his sprawling dive to the floor resulted in a jump ball possession to ETHS and Morgan Brown scored underneath.

Later in the quarter, Dickson rebounded his own missed 3-pointer with a nice hustle play, fired in a 13-foot jump shot in transition, and tossed in a 3-pointer for a 37-27 Evanston edge after three quarters.

Two players combined for most of Deerfield’s offensive output. Sam Hanus came off the bench to deliver 14 points, including three 3-pointers, and Jacob Pollack added 12.

Sub-zero weather on Tuesday forced the cancellation of a scheduled CSL crossover game versus Niles West and that game will not be made up. Instead, the Wildkits will add a non-conference home game against Chicago De La Salle set for January 29th.