Kits Tie 3-Point Mark In Season-Opening Romp

Five o’clock wakeup calls aren’t easy for a high school basketball player to deal with on a daily basis.

But participation at the varsity level of the Evanston Township program requires attendance at 6 a.m. shooting drills in addition to the usual after-school practices once the season starts.

The Wildkits might never learn to like being early birds. But they couldn’t complain about the results in Tuesday night’s season opener.

Evanston shot a blistering 57 percent from 3-point field goal range, tying the school single game record with 17 threes, and destroyed Rolling Meadows 94-44 at the Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving Tournament at Fenton.

The defending tournament champion Kits smacked the Mustangs with a 27-point first quarter, led 53-21 at halftime, and put the running clock (for a slaughter rule scenario) into effect in the final period of the blowout win. Starters Dion Lane Jr. (21 points), Ben Ojala (19) and Timi Ogunsanya (19) all reached double figures for the winners and Tristen Wilcox added 14 off the bench.

With Lane Jr. and Ojala combining for 10 3-pointers, Evanston tied the single game school mark set by the 2018 team against University Heights (Kentucky) and matched by the 2022 squad versus Niles West.

Ojala fired in four triples in the first quarter alone, setting the tone for the night, and Lane Jr. matched that output with four in the second period in an explosive start to the season for a squad that features only one returning starter from a year ago.

Also contributing 3-pointers were Tate Schroeder, Miles Ross, Wilcox and Dillon Pompey.

Head coach Mike Ellis expects shooting to be the strength of the current squad and wasn’t exactly surprised by the offensive outburst. That marksmanship sparked the Kits to their 12th straight season-opening win. Evanston hasn’t lost a season opener since a 2013 defeat at the Lane Tech Thanksgiving tourney against Mount Carmel.

Pool play in the tourney will continue Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Montini, which lost 51-45 in overtime to Wheaton Warrenville South in another first-round matchup Tuesday.

“Just like swimmers, these guys come in twice a day to practice,” Ellis pointed out. “Hopefully tonight they saw the value of that alarm clock going off at 5 or 5:15 in the morning. If anything, they should gain confidence from investing in that hard work and seeing it pay off. Huge confidence comes from what’s done in the dark, not what’s done when the lights are on (game time).

“But the way they played together tonight was what really impressed me. They played the game the right way tonight and I didn’t see any selfish play. Good things happen when you have a ‘we’ mindset instead of a ‘me’ mindset.

“Another thing that jumped out at me was that we only had five turnovers tonight, especially considering the pace we played at,” he added. “That might be a record since I’ve been here because we’ve never taken care of the ball to that extent.

“We do still need to see what it will look like for this team when the shots aren’t going in. But we didn’t learn anything about that tonight.”

With two players who don’t have reputations as defensive stoppers --- Ogunsanya (5 steals) and Lane Jr. (3) --- showing the way, the Wildkits used active hands to force 9 Mustang turnovers in the first quarter, and 24 for the game.

The box score showed that Evanston scored 31 points off turnovers, much to Ellis’ delight.

“Our goal is to have almost a deflection a minute, so 28 is the goal. Tonight we had 38,” said the Evanston coach. “We did a nice job of anticipating, of being in the right spots, and that led to a lot of transition points for us.”

Ellis was able to insert all 16 players who suited up in the second half. One of the highlights was the first 4-point play of the season, as Ogunsanya sank a deep ball from the right side and then added a free throw to on the second possession of the second half.

Rolling Meadows, which won tourney titles in 2022 and 2023, was paced by Ben Babula with 11 points.