The Kits continued their quest for an ISHA state championship by defeating Lane Tech 56-39 in the sectional semi-finals. Once again, the Kits found themselves dominating against a highly rated team.
“I think we have done a great job mentally the entire season. We always make sure to take it one game at a time and keep the focus on ourselves and our performances instead of focusing on who we are playing,” said senior guard Theo Rocca.
Both teams would get off to a sluggish start in the first quarter as they both failed to develop an offensive rhythm and made quite a few errant passes. Lane Senior Dalton Scantlebary opened the scoring for the Champions with an inside drive and layup before Senior George Richardson threaded the ball through bodies to find a wide-open sophomore Vito Rocca to level the score for the Kits. Vito’s brother Theo danced past defenders and forced the ball in, making it 8-5 with two minutes to go in the quarter. Later, both Theo and senior Kaiden Chatham would find Richardson underneath to cap off the quarter, as the Kits would end the quarter with an early 14-7 lead.
Evanston played exceptional defense throughout the first quarter, trapping Lane Tech when they had the ball and forcing the Champions into taking bad shots due to the lack of options. The gritty defense persisted throughout the entire game–the Kits forced 17 turnovers on the night. This level of defensive dominance is now starting to become a major theme of the Wildkits’ playoff run.
“Our guys just paid great attention to detail,” said Head Coach Mike Ellis on this defense. “We set four goals at the defensive end, and we were four for four on those team goals.”
The Kits woke up offensively in the second quarter, with Theo Rocca sinking a contested three to open the period. Rocca’s bucket would be the only Kits’ triple of the first half, as most of their points came from the mid-range game and the paint, where they scored 26 points in the half. Despite shooting only 33% from the field in the second quarter, the Kits still went into the locker room with a 27-15 lead, showcasing a lockdown defensive performance.
“We did a really good job realizing that defense can help when we are having droughts defensively. We were able to really execute on our scouting report and game plan throughout the game,” commented Ellis.
Lane Tech started strong in the second half. Junior Matthew Szafoni lobbed the ball into the air, somehow finding the basket for a three-pointer. This miracle shot cut the Kits’ lead to single digits and forced Ellis to call a timeout.
“When somebody throws basically a hook pass that goes in, you know they have the momentum. That’s why I called timeout—so we could regroup and kill whatever mojo they had going,” explained Ellis.
The timeout proved to be crucial for the Kits. They extinguished any hope of a Champions comeback with an 11-2 run to close out the quarter up by 18. The Kits were especially effective from three-point range during this run, scoring 9 of their 11 points from beyond the arc. Ian Peters shined defensively, recording a pair of steals that prevented Lane from mounting a challenge.
“He was phenomenal,” said Ellis. “They couldn’t enter their offense and flow into it smoothly, and it all began with the way Ian was pressuring the basketball.”
Heading into the final frame, the Kits knew all they had to do was protect their lead to secure a place in the sectional finals. They did just that. Ojala delivered 8 points in the fourth quarter in his first game back from injury.
“He’s instant offense for us when he comes in,” said Ellis about Ojala. “Fearless as a freshman, he’s not afraid of any moments.”
The Kits will return to Winnetka to face Loyola in the sectional finals on Friday, March 7th, at 6 p.m. The Kits defeated the Ramblers during the regular season, but like any playoff game, it will still be a challenge.
