11 in a row.

Boys basketball will ride an 11-game win streak into tonight’s showdown at New Trier.

The Trevians will be seeking revenge after a 58-45 beat down by the Kits in December, a game in which they were held to shooting 15-41 from the field.

“We expect their team to be a lot better the second time around,” said Ellis. “They will play a 1-3-1 half court zone and take up space and passing lanes. We’re going to have to be smart with the basketball and make good decisions.”

Although New Trier is having one of their worst seasons in years, the Kits know that anything can happen in rivalry games. The team will rely heavily on their defense, which has allowed only 41.2 points a game in conference play.

“At the end of the game, we want to be at the defensive end up one trying to get a stop instead of at the other end in a tie game trying to score,” said head coach Mike Ellis.

“Our goal from the start of the season was to go undefeated in conference play. New Trier will be a huge test of how much we’ve improved throughout the season,” said senior Charlie Maxwell.

Senior big man Dylan Mulvihill will play a big role in tonight’s game against a Trevian team that boasts a lot of height. Luckily, Mulvihill, one of the Kits’ only big men, has really stepped up his play as of late. He comes into tonight averaging 8.8 points a game, and is fresh off a 20-16 double-double against Niles West last Friday.

Looking ahead, the team hopes that versatile junior forward Elijah Williams will return right before playoff time. Before his injury, Williams averaged 8.2 points and 6 rebounds per game.

Luckily, the Kits are one of the deepest teams in the state of Illinois and Williams’ absence hasn’t affected them at all. Mulvihill, along with juniors Nojel Eastern, Chris Hamil, and Malik Jenkins all average over 7 points per game.

Senior Trey Marshall is another one of the Kits’ standouts. Ellis loves the poise Marshall brings to this team and how put together he is on offense and defense.

“If you are the best defender we have, that’s a guaranteed starting position and Trey has taken on that offer and cashed in on it more than any other player we’ve had.”

The Kits have been on a roll lately, with their last loss coming against the third-ranked team in Tennessee in December. One of the highlights of this 11-game streak came against perennial powerhouse Whitney Young, with the Kits picking up a 65-58 win.

A huge part of Ellis’ coaching philosophy is practice play. The entire coaching staff and managers keep track of all practice stats for the whole week, and each player is rewarded their points at the end of the week for stats such as points, rebounds, steals, and assists. Players can also lose points for mishaps like turnovers and missed shots. At the end of the week, the player with the most points wears a “gold jersey” the entire next week of practices and is a likely starter for that week.

“We feel like everything in our program is about accountability and we let that play out throughout the course of the week in practices,” said Ellis.