DES PLAINES, IL. – Boys basketball rolled into the playoffs on Tuesday night by dominating Maine West on the road, 54-32, in the team’s final regular season game.
With the win, Evanston clinched their 20th win of the year to close out the regular season with a 20-10 record while Maine West fell to a brutal 4-24.
“I thought our guys did a good job [tonight],” Evanston head coach Mike Ellis said. “They found one another really well, spread the ball around and we had some good looks both around the three and in the paint.”
Both teams started off the game slowly on offense, relying heavily on perimeter shots early in the first quarter. The Kits, however, managed to score the first points of the quarter off senior forward Morgan Brown’s three-pointer. Evanston’s intense perimeter defense caused blown whistles from the refs throughout the quarter, but things didn’t slow on the offensive side of the ball for Evanston. Brown hit another three-pointer and Dickson chipped in a bucket to close out the first quarter.
“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. We always talk about Evanston versus Evanston,” Ellis stated. “We want to make sure that we’re getting better each time out [on the floor].”
The Kits did just that off of junior Ian Peters’ three-pointer to open the second quarter. The Warriors countered off of Anthony Sanchez’s triple, but perimeter shooting was once again a huge factor in the Kits’ win, where they finished with eight made threes on the night. Junior Theo Rocca knocked down two three-pointers in the quarter and junior Emmett Sehgal cashed in a deep ball to go along with his seven points on the night. The Kits led 25-12 when the halftime buzzer sounded.
Freshman Vito Rocca wasted no time out of the break by going to the rim with contact, resulting in two free throws and two points for Evanston. On the next possession, the forward flashed a spark of athleticism by grabbing an offensive rebound and putting the ball in the basket for two. Maine West’s David Diaz responded with a two-point attempt for the Warriors, but the Kits were not bugged. Senior Brandon Watson scored an isolation two and sophomore Timi Ogunsanya drained a three pointer to extend Evanston’s lead to out of reach for the Warriors.
Maine West had no luck trying to claw back into the game after scores by Sehgal, Ogunsanya, Vito Rocca, and junior Ryan Ivory. The four young players combined for 24 out of the team’s 54. As a team, the Kits shot 42 percent from the field and had 21 more points off triples than the Warriors.
“Emmett did a great job tonight. He was the difference, and we started playing better once he was in the game,” Ellis said. “ Timi played well in the second half as well.”
The Kits will open the IHSA Class 4A Playoffs against Maine South in the regional semifinals at Glenbrook South on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s [basically] another CSL mini tournament,” Ellis said. “It’s going to be a situation where we’re familiar with who’s in the regional. Whoever is playing their best basketball of the season… that’s going to be the team who comes out of that regional.”
