Evanston’s basketball program hasn’t always put its best foot forward competing at the Team Rose Shootout event.
The Wildkits lost in their past two trips to the shootout hosted by Mount Carmel High School, and those losses to Bloom (50-48 in 2021) and Marian Catholic (57-45 in 2022) were close to the low points of those respective seasons.
And when Evanston started out by mustering just 4 points in the first quarter Saturday afternoon in a rematch with Marian, it looked like more of the same to Kit fans.
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That’s when the seniors righted the ship and the Wildkits made enough plays, especially in the fourth quarter, to clip Marian 52-47. Seniors Morgan Brown and Antoine Thomas each netted 13 points, and Brandon Watson sank 5 of 6 free throw attempts (he finished with 12 points) in the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds for the winners.
Now 7-2 overall, the Wildkits bounced back from Friday night’s loss to Glenbrook North by outscoring the Spartans from Chicago Heights 13-7 in the final period. Marian (5-3) only scored two field goals with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, then did add another meaningless layup by Terrell Herrell at the final buzzer.
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“We challenged our seniors before the game, because we didn’t feel like they represented our team the way they should’ve last night,” said ETHS head coach Mike Ellis. “I give them a lot of credit for the way that they were able to move on from that poor performance (versus GBN).
“They’re seniors now and we expect them to have these bounce back games. We learned today that we’re improving as far as finishing games. Our tenacity at both ends of the floor in the second and fourth quarters is what made the difference today. I loved our defense down the stretch and, even though the game didn’t start the way we wanted it to, I loved their resolve after that.”
Two inside baskets from Thomas and Brown’s 3-point bomb helped the Wildkits overcome a 40-39 deficit entering the fourth quarter. As a team, Evanston connected on 10-of-23 attempts from 3-point range, including three by Brown.
“We were confident we could bounce back today,” said Brown. “We knew from playing teams like this in the summer league that we could beat big (ranked) teams. We won’t crumble. We’re built for the big moments like this.
“The coaches talked about unity and playing together and that’s what we brought today. Our communication was a lot better than it was last night. We did a really good job of getting through screens and contesting their shots, too. After a slow start, we took a lot of pride in guarding your guy and we defended well enough to get that lead back.”
Zach Sharkey, Jonah Weathers and James Bullock combined for 35 points for the Spartans and helped them shoot exactly 50 percent (18-of-36) from the floor. But Marian also turned the ball over 16 times trying to beat the Kits with 1-on-1 play for the entire game.
It worked in the first quarter, which ended with Marian on top 12-4. But it didn’t really work after that.
“Sometimes when you have a three-headed monster like that, guys feel like they should have turns scoring,” Ellis pointed out. “Those three guys are really hard to cover, but I think we were pretty solid against them. We talked about just winning your matchup 1-on-1. They got the better of us in the first quarter, but it was good to see us step up after that.
“Morgan (Brown) had a nice second half for us and he made plays at both ends of the court. We got nice dribble penetration from Brandon (Watson), and we were able to find the open man and make that next pass when we needed to.”
Evanston’s 8-1 run to open the fourth quarter gave the Wildkits the lead and the opportunity to show they could play with poise once they got on top. But the victory required enough defensive stops to keep Marian at bay.
The Spartans closed to within 47-45 on a steal and layup by Kaleb Isom with 2:08 remaining in regulation. And, after Evanston’s Theo Rocca (9 points) misfired on a critical 3-point attempt, Evanston got the stop it needed as Sharkey’s drive down the lane was contested by Brown and he couldn’t connect.
After two Watson free throws, Brown grabbed the spotlight on defense again. He closed in on a driving Bullock and the Marian player lost the ball out of bounds. Possession to Evanston, and free throws by Rocca and Watson sealed the victory.
The Wildkits will host Mundelein Carmel on Tuesday in a non-conference game.
