Kits Don't Let Pressure Get To Them In Shootout Win

Semester exams are scheduled next week at Evanston Township High School. But the Wildkit basketball team passed a big test Saturday at the Team Rose Shootout held at Mount Carmel.

One week after melting down at times against pressure defense and losing at Waukegan, Evanston felt the heat again from a Hillcrest team that attacked every ballhandler right off the team bus.

This time, the Wildkits played with poise under that relentless pressure and outscored Hillcrest 83-79 as Dion Lane Jr. and Tate Schroeder both turned in career-best performances for the winners.

Lane Jr. (24 points) and Schroeder (22) paced an Evanston offense that featured all five starters in double figures. The winners shot a sizzling 62 percent from the floor by attacking that pressure and converting those chances into lay-ups time and time again.

Evanston, now 7-2 on the season, knew what was coming from the Hawks and veteran head coach Don Houston. But responding to it the way they did was a big step forward for the winners, who survived 19 turnovers and outscored Hillcrest 16-14 in the final four minutes of the up-tempo contest.

ETHS sank eight straight free throws after the game was tied at 67-all.

And Lane and Schroeder, who are still getting their feet wet as varsity starters, found out they can match skills with anyone they line up against.

“We’re good, we’re talented and you have the skill set to play against that kind of pressure,” ETHS head coach Mike Ellis told his team in the post-game meeting. “We don’t have to run from that kind of pressure. We don’t have to be afraid of it. We learned that last week at Waukegan.

“We felt like we let the game get away from us last Saturday against a similar opponent that’s a sectional (champion)/super-sectional type of team. Since we didn’t win that game, we decided let’s not waste the lessons we learned. That was the difference tonight.

“We kept coming after Hillcrest because you have to match their aggressiveness. They’re counting on you to falter against that kind of pressure, but instead our guys welcomed it.”

Lane Jr. shot 9-of-13 from the floor and constantly broke down the Hillcrest defense for lay-ups, either in transition or just off the dribble. He added three assists and three steals from the winners, who also counted 13 points apiece from Ben Ojala and Vito Rocca, and 11 points from Timi Ogunsanya.

Hillcrest (6-2) was paced by guard Jamir Ratliff’s 26 points, but had to play without 6-foot-7 Maximilian Carmicle, who is sidelined by a knee injury.

“We didn’t take any steps back against them. We went straight into their pressure,” Lane Jr. explained. “I think we took a big step from last week and now we’ve got to continue that. It started for us with our practice drills this week. We played a lot of 7-on-5 (instead of 5-on-5) just to put the pressure on consistently. Those drills really prepared us for this game.”

“We learned from that experience at Waukegan,” added Schroeder, who connected on 7-of-12 field goal attempts, including three 3-point buckets. “And rebounding was a key, too. I knew I had to get at least 5 rebounds (his exact number) because they play so physical, and I was fired up to do my part.

“We thought we’d match up pretty well against them and we practiced hard against pressure. We have five guys who are dangerous and they only had a couple. I think this was a really big step for us, against a tough team.”

Evanston erupted for a season-high 28 points in the opening quarter and never trailed in the final three periods. But the Hawks wouldn’t go away, as Ratliff threw in a 3-point shot from right in front of the ETHS at the halftime buzzer to pull Hillcrest to within 47-42 at halftime.

The losers finally got even at 67-67 with 4:30 remaining --- with Ratliff muscling in a short jumper --- but Evanston refused to crack. Schroeder drove for a lay-in, then grabbed a key rebound at the other end that led to a pair of free throws for Ogunsanya.

Schroeder later scored on a put-back of his own miss and the Wildkits didn’t miss at the charity stripe on their way to a hard-fought victory.

“I thought we did a great job finding the open man tonight,” said Ellis. “I saw improvement in our awareness and our recognition and that’s something we’ve really been working on.

“Tate is a really good player, and so is Dion. I’ve said before than any one of them can have a highlight-type night for us. We have to use that to our advantage and be hard to guard. Hillcrest had to defend all five of us tonight. They had to be aware of all of our guys.

“We faced a press the entire 32 minutes and we had 19 turnovers (four on inbounds violations). They understood what they needed to do against that kind of pressure, and for the most part, they did it.”

Evanston will host Glenbrook South Friday night before competing at the Centralia Holiday Tournament December 29-31. The Wildkits will open play at Centralia against defending Class 2A state champion Chicago Dyett and are lodged in the bracket opposite of the host team after losing to Centralia last year in the title game.