There are no nights off on the Central Suburban League South division basketball schedule.
Evanston’s girls earned a painful reminder of that fact Tuesday night in their 2024-25 conference debut as perennial power Maine South dominated all phases of the game on their way to a 65-38 slaughter rule victory at Beardsley Gymnasium.
The Wildkits suffered their third straight defeat and head coach Brittanny Johnson was candid in her comments about surviving life in the CSL South.
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And while unbeaten Maine South (6-0) is likely a cut above the rest of the competition this year, Evanston’s growing pains as a team --- there are only two seniors on the roster --- will get even more painful if they’re not better prepared going forward.
“We just didn’t play hard enough. I’m really bothered by our (lack of) effort,” Johnson said. “Our focus has been on toughness and we’re not making much progress in that department. Our younger players don’t play with much of an edge and tonight we let people push us around. We didn’t play hard enough to be competitive tonight.
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“We didn’t share the ball very well and we made too many late decisions (passing) when we had people open. We talked a lot about not turning the ball over (ETHS committed 24 turnovers) and not giving up offensive rebounds (the Hawks owned the glass 36-18).
“We only had one day to prepare for them and this was a tough welcome to the CSL South. It’s not going to get easier, either. Every possession matters, and we don’t see it that way yet. We don’t have that mindset.”
Now 1-3 overall, the Wildkits were paced by sophomore Brielle Rosemond’s 12 points and 3 rebounds. Payton King added nine points before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
Maine South shot just 38 percent from the field but placed two players in double figures, senior forward Asia Kobylarczyk with 22 points and senior guard Katie Barker with 14.
Evanston’s only lead of the contest came when Rosemond drove and scored for the first bucket of the game. South responded with nine unanswered points and led 14-8 at the first quarter break and 38-22 at halftime.
The Wildkits are back in action for another league game on Friday night at Glenbrook North and will play Grayslake Central on Saturday at the Fremd Shootout.
