Warren's Career High Helps Kits Crush Deerfield

Jayla Warren never touched a basketball before entering high school at Evanston and is still learning the nuances of post play.

But the 6-foot junior was definitely a presence in the post Friday night for the Wildkits at Deerfield.

Warren scored a career-high 16 points and also grabbed 5 rebounds as Evanston demolished Deerfield 69-29 and improved to 2-0 in Central Suburban League South division play. The running clock victory lifted the Kits to 4-1 overall while Deerfield fell to 1-7.

Most of Warren’s points came in the second half against Deerfield’s bench. But ETHS head coach Brittanny Johnson has had her eye on Warren since she joined the program and relishes the idea of adding a strong post player to a lineup that features three outstanding guards in Zuri Ransom, Kailey Starks and Arianna Milam-Pryor.

You can count the number of top inside threats who have worn the Orange and Blue uniform on one hand since Johnson, now in her 8th season at the helm, took over at Evanston. But just because the Wildkits have historically been guard-oriented doesn’t mean that’s always the way Johnson wants her teams to play.

“Jayla’s had a number of big games for us on the JV (junior varsity) level, including a 40 point game against Niles West,” said Johnson. “I’ve seen how strong she is --- she’s very strong --- and other coaches from the lower levels have mentioned that to me in the past, too.

“I’ve always thought that she’d be a late bloomer. I was just saying (to the other members of the ETHS staff) this week that I’m hoping Jayla would have a big game soon to build her confidence. Her biggest issue is that she questions herself so much. She needs to believe in her ability.

“We need a low post presence. Give me a dominant post player --- and it will be scary, because I’ve always wanted to play more inside-outside basketball (on offense). I’m always talking about our three-headed monster and I want more heads on that monster. Five or six of them would be great.”

Warren converted 6-of-14 field goal attempts for the winners and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw stripe.

Evanston delivered a monster performance as a team Friday. Starks (21 points, 8 rebounds) and Ransom (15 points, 6 steals) did almost all of their damage in the first half as the Kits forced 20 Deerfield turnovers with a 2-2-1 fullcourt press and cruised to a 41-13 advantage by the halftime intermission.

Freshman Payton King stashed in all 7 of her points in the third quarter as Evanston extended the lead to 58-25, putting the running clock into effect for the final period.

The losers, who like Evanston start two freshmen, finished with 30 turnovers on the night and also only shot 25 percent (10-of-39) from the field. Tori Gitler paced Deerfield with 12 points.

“I’m not necessarily happy about the win,” Johnson added. “There were a lot of things that we didn’t execute very well tonight in the second and third quarters. We’ve got a lot to work on.”