Wildkits Learn Back-To-Back Wins Don't Come Easy

Playing against the same opponent in back-to-back games is something new, even for the veterans on Evanston’s basketball team this year.

The Wildkits learned a lesson in that scenario this weekend, and they didn’t have to learn it the hard way.

Less than 24 hours after blowing out Niles West on the road, the Kits were only able to chalk up a 4-point halftime lead before finally pulling away in the second half for a 62-31 rout and maintaining their unbeaten record.

Blake Peters took over with a 13-point splurge of his own in the third period and the hosts outscored the Wolves 38-11 in the second half to improve to 3-0 on the season, 2-0 in Central Suburban League South division play.

“I didn’t have anything to say to them after the game Friday night, because I said they’d tell me more with the way they came ready to play today,” said ETHS head coach Mike Ellis. “It takes self-discipline to turn the page and forget about yesterday. It’s another challenge for the kids this year because you don’t ever play the same team back-to-back, not even in AAU ball.

“We came out alright today, but I think after that we expected it to be as easy as it was the night before. That’s what allowed Niles West to stay in the game. Give Niles West credit, because they played hard and they wanted to prove a point after last night. Nobody played poorly for us, but I don’t think we respected the competition enough. This is our first experience playing back-to-back, and I hope we learned something, because we’ll have to do it 4 more times.”

Peters continued his climb up the school career scoring list and now trails Nojel Eastern, the No. 2 all-time scorer at 1,345, by just 30 points. He racked up 13 of his game-high 16 points in the third quarter, when he also chipped in 4 rebounds and a steal and seemed to be everywhere the winners needed him to be.

Even though Peters has been tough in the clutch on countless occasions over his first 3 years in the program, there haven’t been many times he’s taken over a game like he dominated in the first 4 minutes of the second half Saturday.

His scoring (a rebound basket, four free throws and a pair of 3-point buckets) was just part of an all-around performance that the Princeton University recruit delivered to stave off a possible upset.

“Blake was around the basketball when it was loose, he rebounded, he helped in the right situations on defense when he was needed, and he didn’t just look for his shot,” Ellis pointed out. “He took over the game, and played like the point guard Princeton will be expecting next year. He really turned it on today.”

Evanston outscored the Wolves 25-7 in the third quarter and two rebound buckets by reserve Jamon Brooks pushed the lead to 49-27. Brooks finished with 8 points, Isaiah Holden tallied 12, and Ola Ajiboye added 4 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.

The Wildkits are on the road again Monday for a 3 p.m. game at Loyola Academy.