Despite winning four games in a row coming into Tuesday night’s battle with Glenbrook South, the Kits ultimately fell 69-53, against a team in the Titans that is seemingly a real competitor for the Class 4A boys basketball State title.

Things went off the rails immediately for the Wildkits, as Glenbrook South went up by as many as 11 in the first quarter, leading 19-8 after the first 8:00. Evanston knew that going up against the number two team in the state was going to be a challenge, and that proved true.

South headed into halftime with a 16 point, 37-21 lead, the largest margin that ETHS had faced after the first two quarters all season. The electric duo of seniors Nick Martinelli and Cooper Noard were just too much for the Kits to handle. Martinelli, a 6’8 forward committed to Elon, was simply unstoppable. His scoring package on the night consisted of layups and easy hooks in the post, but since he’s also a fantastic shooter, Evanston had to keep an eye on pick-and-roll action that could lead to him knocking down threes. By night’s end, Martinelli had dropped 26 points despite the Kits’ best efforts.

The Kits tried everything all game to stop him, even putting in sophomore guard Antoine Thomas, newly promoted to varsity for the postseason, to attempt and stop Martinelli. Junior Prince Adams and senior David Gieser both got in major foul trouble as the game progressed, struggling to guard Martinelli. Senior Cooper Noard, also dropped 18 points for GBS. For Evanston, senior Rashawn Bost chipped in a season-high 21 for the Kits to keep it close in the 69-53 loss.

For Glenbrook South, the squad will take a 32-2 record into the IHSA Class 4A sectional finals on Friday night against New Trier. For the Kits, their season is over, finishing with a 21-10 record. This marks the first time since 2016 that Evanston has not made it to the sectional finals game.

Coming off of a historic year for Evanston basketball where nine seniors graduated, the Kits responded with a stronger than most expected. They won the regional championship, knocked off a top-5 team in the state in New Trier, and finished with a winning record despite playing one of the hardest schedules in the state. It will be interesting to see how the team fares next season, with four out of the five in the starting lineup being seniors. Regardless, another quality season for Coach Mike Ellis’ Kits.