Kits Fall Short In Upset Bid At Waukegan

Evanston’s basketball team probably won’t play a team as athletic and strong as Waukegan the rest of the season.

Experience counts, too. And in the end, that’s the reason the Wildkits couldn’t steal a victory away from the skilled Bulldogs Saturday.

In a matchup of two rivals who hadn’t met since January of 2016, Waukegan escaped with a 62-58 triumph by scoring the last five points of the non-conference contest. Vito Rocca’s layup attempt wedged underneath the iron with 10 seconds remaining for the Wildkits, who fell to 4-2 overall on the season.

Rocca’s miss led to two free throws at the other end for Waukegan guard Carter Newsome and lifted the Bulldogs to 5-1 on the year. Newsome and 6-foot-7 Rico Love both scored 20 points for the winners, while Tate Schroeder and Dion Lane Jr. netted 18 apiece for ETHS.

A veteran Bulldog team --- the top 8 players on the roster are all seniors --- wasn’t about to lose a game in the hallowed Dog Pound they call their homecourt. Those seniors made the plays that Evanston couldn’t make --- yet.

Growing pains can hurt. It will take the losers awhile to get over this near-miss.

“Waukegan is all seniors, and you could tell our guys had never been in this spot before,” said Evanston head coach Mike Ellis. “We’ve got to do a better job of closing games out. We had a chance tonight, but we had too many empty possessions down the stretch.

“When you don’t make the plays you feel you could have made, it’s painful. There are no moral victories. We had a chance to steal a win, and we let it slip away.”

Played at a helter skelter pace that reminded Evanston fans of the days when Waukegan was a member of the Central Suburban League South division, the Kits came close to beating the hosts at their own game. Schroeder’s 3-point basket, his third of the final period, and a layup by Lane Jr. following a steal by Timi Ogunsanya propelled Evanston to a 58-57 advantage late in the fourth quarter.

Newsom’s triple with 53 seconds left on the clock restored the lead to the home team and set up a frantic finish. The two teams traded turnovers and Evanston called a timeout with 13 seconds remaining to set up a potential game-winning shot.

But the play never materialized the way it was drawn up. Instead, Rocca drove the lane, lost the handle for a moment, and then when he regained control his shot never got above the rim from point blank range.

“Waukegan did a great job of face-guarding Tate at the end there,” Ellis noted. “We wanted him to get the last shot. The ball wound up in Vito’s hands instead, and Vito’s such a competitor he tried to make a play. They jumped him in the post and they ended up getting the rebound, too.

“I thought our energy on the boards was solid and we fought and scratched against them. Throughout the game we had to work really hard against their defense, and we didn’t hit the open guys enough. Our defense was what kept us in it and gave us some opportunities with turnovers to get some easy baskets.”

A case could be made that Waukegan has given Ellis-coached teams the toughest times overall among current and former CSL South schools. The Bulldogs only trail 8-6 in the series between the two schools since Ellis took over as head coach.

So the coach turned back the clock --- after also reading the current scouting report --- and used a 2-3 zone defense, and variations of it, to give Waukegan different looks and tempt the Bulldogs into taking the first available shot, usually from beyond 3-point range.

Waukegan launched 10 3-point attempts in the first quarter, sinking only three, and fell behind 25-17. Evanston still led 35-32 at halftime thanks to an old-school 3-point play by Ogunsanya and Aiden Payne’s rebound basket in the final minute.

“I can’t remember the last time we played that much zone,” Ellis said. “Waukegan has always been comfortable (matching up) with our style of play, with pressure D against pressure D, and it usually comes down to who has the playmakers when the (designed) plays break down. Newsome hit a big 3 down the stretch for them.”

The Bulldogs regrouped at the halftime break and outscored Evanston 17-7, turning Evanston’s five turnovers into transition points and limiting the visitors to 2-of-9 shooting from the floor. “Waukegan came out with more intensity than we did. We didn’t have many good possessions on the offensive end,” Ellis admitted.”

Evanston will play its home opener on Tuesday against Bulls Prep. Glenbrook North will pay a visit to Beardsley Gym for a rare Thursday CSL South contest.