This figured to be a tough spot for Evanston.
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It was the kind of game even conference champions tend to lose, and the kind of victory deep postseason runs are borne of.
Faced with a hot opponent on the road in a packed gym against their biggest rival, the No. 7 Wildkits struggled through three quarters. Their talent shined through in the final eight minutes of their Central Suburban South-clinching 53-39 victory over New Trier on Friday in Winnetka.
Junior Nojel Eastern scored 25 points, made 5-of-6 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds. Evanston outscored the Trevians 22-11 in the fourth quarter to extend its winning streak to 12 and snap New Trier’s at eight.
“This has been a rivalry for years,” Eastern said. “Coach expected it to come to a two-point game. We played the defensive side of the game real well. In both our games against them we held them under 50. That was our goal.”
Evanston (20-2, 8-0) was on the brink of pulling away when consecutive 3-pointers by the heavily recruited Eastern gave the Wildkits a 31-21 third-quarter lead, but New Trier (13-9, 5-3) scored the final seven points of third to cut its deficit to three and get its crowd worked up.
The Wildkits quieted them quickly with a quick 11-2 run, and Eastern made back-to-back 3s again to put away the Trevians.
“Ironically, they went box-and-one on Nojel, and that is when he had a lot of success,” Evanston coach Mike Ellis said. “That’s really a credit to his teammates for finding him. Our team did a good job putting the ball in spots it needed to be for us to free him up.”
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.
Player of the game: Nojel Eastern, Evanston, 25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-6 3-pointers.
Key performers: New Trier — Spencer Boehm, 12 points. Evanston — Dylan Mulvihill, 10 points.