Evanston’s basketball team finally showed a sense of urgency in the last four minutes of Tuesday’s non-conference matchup with Loyola Academy at Beardsley Gym.
But it was too little and too late.
Ramblers’ guard Miles Boland scored on a 3-point play with less than one second remaining on the clock and Loyola escaped with a 47-44 victory in a defensive duel.
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Boland, held in check for most of the night by the Wildkits, took on the hero’s role after Evanston senior Brandon Watson tied the score at 44-all on a baseline drive with 18 seconds left.
Boland, a 6-foot-3 senior, stormed down the left side of the lane for a layup and sank the ensuing free throw with 8-10ths of a second left to thwart a second half comeback by the host team. Evanston fell to 15-9 on the season after mustering just three points in the third quarter.
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Loyola, now 19-4, figures to challenge Glenbrook North for the No. 1 sectional tournament seed when the Class 4A postseason matchups are determined two weeks from now. The winners brought their Catholic League toughness into play at the end led by Boland, who finished with a game-high 14 points.
Boland and two Evanston players, Watson (10 points) and Theo Rocca (10 points), were the only double figure scorers in the game.
ETHS head coach Mike Ellis was left to lament another sub-par performance in the second half. His squad led 20-16 at the intermission, only to be outscored 14-3 in the third period.
“The second half has been our enemy. More times than not this year, we’ve under-performed in the second half, and I’ve got to get to the bottom of it,” Ellis declared. “We’ve really struggled with our second half performances this year.
“Tonight we allowed Loyola to be the aggressor in the third quarter and that’s what made the difference. They were tougher than we were. We didn’t give up --- I know how badly our kids wanted to win --- but we needed to play like that at the start of the second half. We need to make every single possession as important as it was in the last four minutes.”
Boland’s drive prevented the visitors from squandering what had been a 10-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter. A 3-point shot by Loyola’s Andrew Hollerich pushed the lead to 40-30 and put the Ramblers in the driver’s seat for one of their patient finishes.
But Evanston didn’t let that happen.
“Instead of letting them throw 30 passes (per possession down the stretch) and making a lot of free throws, we did a good job of pressuring them,” Ellis said. “Down 10 like that, we had no other choice. We just didn’t make enough plays.
“We have to value our possessions better. We’re not reading and anticipating what to do next when they come up in our faces on defense. We want it to be easy, not hard, and that’s what leads to pitfalls. Our offense off the ball is very suspect right now.
“We only had 7 offensive rebounds tonight and we missed 28 shots. I don’t feel like we’re attacking the glass, as a team, like we want to score every time down the court. We only shot 12 free throws (to Loyola’s 24) and we had the ball in the paint just as much as they did.”
Rambler fans really started to squirm in their seats when Rocca delivered a classic fake at the 3-point line and drew a foul on Hollerich with the Wildkits still trailing by seven at the 1:29 mark. He converted all three free throws to slice Loyola’s lead to 44-40.
An offensive foul charged to Brendan Loftus, trying to fight his way out of an ETHS double team, gave Evanston the ball back and Rocca rose to the occasion again, this time curling in a 12-foot shot to make it 44-42.
Loyola’s Donovan Robinson missed a layup, setting the stage for Watson’s game-tying drive down the left baseline.
Then it was Boland’s turn.
“Boland made a great play to finish it off,” acknowledged Ellis. “That’s what great players do. He made sure that his team won.
“This isn’t a rivalry game for us. The significance for tonight was for the sectional seeding. That would have been a significant win for us, but you can’t have a significant loss.”
Tuesday’s contest was the start of stretch in which ETHS will play 4 games in 6 days. The Kits travel to Maine South on Friday, will play Saint Patrick in the annual War On The Shore event Saturday at New Trier, and will host Chicago DeLaSalle next Monday.
