In the seventh anniversary of the Bob Bost Classic, a packed Beardsley Gym witnessed Evanston’s 54-46 victory over rival New Trier, as the Kits’ solid interior defense held Trevian star forwards Ciaran Brayboy and Spencer Boehm to a combined 18 points.

“I thought our guys played good team defense down in the post,”  coach Mike Ellis said. “It wasn’t just one on one matchups. It was five on one. We knew where the ball was, we rotated, and we just made some plays.”

Despite starting a five-guard lineup, Ellis found ways to make sure ETHS was able to stop Brayboy and Boehm from scoring down low. Senior Lance Jones, junior Ethan Francis and sophomore Jaylin Gibson harassed the twin towers although they stand a full head shorter.

“I think Ethan Francis gave us a ton of energy off the bench. His efforts in the low post on defense was part of the reason we held Ciaran to 10 points, so I feel like we cut his average in half,” Ellis explained.

On top of incredible defense, the Kits came out of the gate sizzling from behind the arc, as early three-pointers from senior Jaheim Holden, sophomore Blake Peters as well as Jones helped electrify the sold-out crowd.

“When we’re talking about three-point shots, I’ll take those all day,” Ellis said. “We have confidence in our offense and our guard play from all five guys on the floor and we were just trying to make sure we didn’t lose on the interior tonight.”

Holden led the Kits in scoring, tallying 22 points, making four of eight three-point attempts.

“I felt like I deserved to make those shots. I’ve been in the gym all week so they just came naturally for me and I had the confidence to shoot them,” Holden said.

Holden’s impact was most evident in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of the Kits’ 15 points, and ended any hopes of a Trevian comeback.

Friday night’s game paid tribute to the late Bob Bost, the grandfather of senior guard Ryan Bost. Bob graduated from ETHS in 1964 and returned to Evanston where he coached baseball and basketball prior to becoming an assistant principal at Haven Middle School.

The win improves Evanston to a 17-3 record as New Trier takes their third loss of the season, moving to 15-3. The two teams will see each other again in a month, as the Kits will travel to Winnetka to face New Trier on Feb. 15 to wrap up their regular season.