WINNETKA — Evanston has a talented but young girls basketball team, and that was clear last week.
The Wildkits lost two Central Suburban South games — a 62-43 defeat to New Trier on Dec. 9 and a 56-45 setback to Glenbrook South on Friday — against teams that came into this week a combined 17-0.
Evanston, which starts four sophomores, led New Trier late in the first quarter and was within four points of Glenbrook South in the second half. But the Wildkits went 5-for-19 on free throws and committed 15 turnovers, many unforced, in the first half against the Trevians. Days later, it was a porous defense that plagued them against the Titans.
Evanston entered this week 4-5 and 0-3 in league play.
“We just have to bring the pieces together because we are talented, but we don’t have enough experience,” sophomore wing Leighah-Amori Wool said. “We don’t have the maturity yet. We make dumb mistakes.”
But Wool added that most of the mistakes are correctable, and she said the Wildkits will be a better team later in the season.
A second-year starter, the 5-11 Wool was Evanston’s best player last week. She scored a season-high 23 points, to go with eight rebounds and five steals, against Glenbrook South. She had a team-best 13 points and added seven rebounds against New Trier.
More Top Picks Qled Vs Oled Vs Led
“It has been frustrating,” Wool said. “We are waiting for everything to click and for everything to come together. We haven’t played like I know we can.
“[Against Glenbrook South], our problem was we gave up too early, and we didn’t execute early enough. I think they ran the same backdoor play and scored like 10 times in a row. I am positive something like that won’t happen again.”
Evanston coach Elliot Whitefield was relatively upbeat after the loss to the Trevians, who are coming off a Class 4A sectional title and are one of the top teams in the state again this season.
“I thought New Trier might come out and kill us with their execution, but they didn’t,” he said.
“The difference was their experience. I leave here thinking that we beat ourselves with our mistakes, that they didn’t beat us. It was a learning experience for us.”
Sophomore forward Krystal Forrester also was in the starting lineup as a freshman. But sophomore guard Savannah Norfleet and sophomore wing Hanan Richmond are starters and newcomers to the rotation. In all, Whitefield has seven sophomores on the roster.
By the time Evanston sees New Trier and Glenbrook South again in late January, Wool said the Wildkits will be more prepared to compete for four quarters.
“I think we will have the mind-set that we can beat them, but we have to play as a team and not as individuals,” she said. “I am excited to play them again because I know we can win.”