Evanston Girls Put Up A Fight, Then Bow To New Champs patch.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from patch.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UpdatedTue, Mar 9, 2021 at 10:56 pm CT
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Listed at 6 feet, 4 inches, Ciara Gentle is already the tallest player in the history of the Evanston girls basketball program.
Just how much on an impact she will make in the future is still a question. But behind Gentle and Taija Banks, two sophomores with perhaps the most up-side as far as talent on the varsity roster, the Wildkits rolled over Highland Park 52-18 Tuesday in a Central Suburban League crossover contest.
Gentle scored a career-high 11 points and added 6 rebounds while Banks, slowed because of knee surgery for the past year and a half, logged major minutes in the blowout and netted a career-best 8 points.
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Evanston s girls basketball program - always successful in the past - reached new heights once Brittanny Johnson took over as head coach 5 years ago.
The Wildkits challenged any and all comers, playing an elite schedule that included the program s first trip to a national tournament down in New Orleans. And part of the growing pains for this year s young squad included a Sunday trip to participate in the High School Jam shootout event at Morton College.
Matched up against elite Chicago Public School representative Kenwood Academy, the Wildkits hung tough for three quarters before bowing 56-38.
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The abbreviated playing calendar for teams in 2021 due to the pandemic limited Johnson s scheduling choices in a rebuilding season. But the former college coach recognizes the benefits of having losses to CPS powers Simeon and Kenwood in a 12-4 season to date.
UpdatedSat, Mar 6, 2021 at 9:55 pm CT
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The Central Suburban League s decision to play back-to-back weekend games during the abbreviated basketball season placed even more of an emphasis on the preparation for each foe by every team s head coach.
What a difference a day made for Evanston s girls and head coach Brittanny Johnson on Saturday.
Just hours after suffering their first conference defeat, a lopsided 62-40 loss to New Trier, Johnson and Co. found the right answers on defense and stifled the Trevians in a 50-43 triumph at Beardsley Gymnasium.
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Evanston s clinging man-to-man defense held the visitors without a single field goal for a 7-minute stretch in the second half, and that effort was more than good enough to keep the defending champs alive in pursuit of another CSL South division title.
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Friday s road loss at New Trier certainly made things crystal clear for the Evanston girls basketball team.
The path to a repeat as Central Suburban League South division champions is simple. Now, Coach Brittanny Johnson s team will probably have to win out.
New Trier applied a 62-40 near-knockout punch and handed the Wildkits, now 11-3 overall, their first league loss. ETHS has a rematch with the Trevians Saturday at Beardsley Gym and will close out the year next weekend with a home-and-home series against a Maine South club that hasn t lost yet in conference action.
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Friday, the visitors fell behind 14-4 at the start and never really challenged the Trevians (9-5, 4-2). Evanston was held without a field goal in the second quarter, missing all 8 shots from the floor, and only got offensive production from Rashele Olantunbosun with 15 points.