Evanston’s starters built a 29-7 lead in the first 10 minutes of Monday night’s Central Suburban League crossover basketball game at Maine West, then watched nervously from the bench as that edge slowly evaporated with the bench players logging the rest of the minutes.
Head coach Mike Ellis wasn’t going to put his starters back in. So it was up to a trio of seldom-used seniors --- Mackenzie Brewer, Ethan Kye and Jake Vasilias --- to earn a W.
The Wildkits righted the ship in time to secure a 63-54 victory over the Warriors and moved to 10-1 on the season. Blake Peters tallied a team-best 12 points --- on 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point range --- in just 11 minutes of action and helped the Kits equal their season high with 10 baskets from beyond the 3-point arc.
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But it was Brewer’s heady play at the end of the third quarter, after West had chopped the deficit down to 4 points, that reclaimed the momentum for the winners. And both Kye (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) and Vasilias (4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist) made sure there were no slip-ups down the stretch.
Maine West had closed to within 47-43 on a 3-point basket by Julius Murray, his only field goal of the game, and the Wildkits had possession for one final shot.
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Brewer fumbled the ball slightly in the backcourt, realized time was running out and flung up a shot from 25 feet, knowing he’d be fouled in the act of shooting by defender Daniel Prieto.
Prieto was charged with the foul, Brewer swished all 3 free throw attempts, and the visitors were back in business. They went on to outscore West 13-11 in the final period.
“Mac looked over at the bench to see what we wanted to run, but there were only 8 seconds left, so we said just go,” Ellis said. “He couldn’t get past their kid (defender), so he did the next best thing and tried to draw the foul. That was a smart play.”
Brewer finished with a career-best 8 points and Daeshawn Hemphill contributed 9 points and 3 rebounds in just his second start of the season.
Ellis dug deep into his bench for a variety of reasons Monday. The Wildkits are scheduled to play every day this week except Thursday, and the lack of a junior varsity schedule this winter means that the veteran coach has had few opportunities to see his players in action against someone wearing a different color uniform.
Starter Rashawn Bost also missed Monday’s game due to illness, with Kye stepping into that spot.
“Whoever wins, wins tonight,” shrugged Ellis, noting that the game doesn’t count toward the team goal of winning the division championship. “If I have to bring the starters back in, then I think that sends the wrong message for the rest of the season.
“We have a tough stretch of games coming up and we have to find out who we can count on in the rotation, who is the 6th man, who is the 7th man, who is the 8th man? Mac made some big plays and I thought both Ethan and Jake stepped up and steadied the ship for us. I’ve got a lot of confidence in them, especially Ethan and Jake. They prepare every day for those moments in practice and they deserve the opportunity for those moments for all the time they put in.
“I know Mac was a little discouraged with his role for us last season (only appearing in 12 games) but he’s come back this year and he’s one of our leaders, in practice and in the lockerroom. It was good to see him get some playing time.”
The Wildkits appeared to get any shot they wanted to start the game, and that shot was usually a 3-point attempt. The winners converted 10-of-24 from 3-point range and shot 49 percent from the field (24-of-49) overall.
Maine West (3-7 overall) was paced by senior Jared Pearson’s 22 points and 7 rebounds.
