For Evanston senior swingman Malcolm Townsel, the Wildkits’ Class 4A Chicago State Supersectional game against Young on Tuesday will be a reunion.
Townsel, who played for Young last year before his family moved to Evanston, said he’s seen his old team play on multiple occasions this season, and said the Wildkits can expect another end-to-end game like last Friday’s Waukegan Sectional final, which Evanston won 81-68 over the host Bulldogs.
“(Young) is a fast-paced team, they play hard and are about nine deep. They are as good as any team in the state,” said Townsel, an Evanston starter who came off the bench at Young last season and said he remains close to Dolphins seniors Lucas Williamson, Derrick Faulkner and Justin Stovall. “They are kind of like Waukegan, kind of play at the same pace as Waukegan, though they are a little bigger and have a little more Division I talent.”
The winner of the supersectional, which is scheduled to tip at 7 p.m., advances to Friday’s state semifinals in Peoria.
Evanston coach Mike Ellis said he doesn’t need to look far to find another team that Young resembles.
“They are talented all the way around, similar to us,” he said. “There is not a weak link on the floor. Their guys have multiple skills: passing, dribbling, shooting. They are hard to guard, similar to us.”
Young started four guards and an athletic forward in its 73-55 win over Oak Park-River Forest in Friday’s Proviso East Sectional final. With a lack of top-level frontcourt talent, the Dolphins rely on their speed and pressure defense, which caused several turnovers that led to easy transition baskets against OPRF.
The 6-foot-5 Williamson is generally considered Young’s top player, and this season he’s added outside skills to an already solid inside game. Junior point guard Xavier Castaneda is regarded as one of the state’s best in the Class of 2018, while 6-4 junior guard Javon Freeman, who starred at Seton last year before that school closed, has a scholarship offer from Loyola of Chicago. In the sectional final, senior guard Craig Beaudion (14 points) and junior guard Justin Boyd (12) contributed double-digit scoring for the Dolphins.
“They are pit bulls on defense and play as hard as they can. They play 94 feet (full court),” said Evanston senior forward Elyjah Williams, an Evanston resident who had 18 points and 15 rebounds in the sectional final.
Evanston last reached the supersectional in 2012, Ellis’ second season in charge, when it lost 59-34 to Simeon, the eventual state champion.
Evanston played Simeon again this season, defeating the Wolverines 56-38 in the City-Suburban Showdown in Arlington Heights.
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That event was one of several high-profile shootouts and showcases Evanston played in this season because of Purdue-signee Nojel Eastern.
But the schedule — which also included games against nationally-ranked Montverde (Fla.), downstate power Belleville Althoff and tournaments in Ohio and South Carolina — was not simply about exposure, but rather preparing Evanston for just the type of challenge it will face Tuesday night.
“That’s why we put the schedule together, to go face various challenges and adversities. Now, we face another one — going down to Chicago State to face a Public League team in their backyard,” Ellis said.
As a result of the challenging schedule, Ellis believes each of his players now competes at a level a year higher than his grade. That might help explain why the team’s sophomores, specifically Lance Jones and Jaheim Holden, showed so much poise during key moments of the sectional final. Jones had an important basket and block during the Wildkits’ comeback from a nine-point, third-quarter deficit, and Holden hit a crucial fourth-quarter 3-pointer.
“Our seniors are so consistent, it’s when the sophomores have played their best, that we’ve played our best,” Ellis said.
Ellis also has said the team excels when Eastern is at his most assertive, and that was the case in the sectional final, as the 6-6 guard went into the post and, using his size, strength and determination, turned in a memorable 29-point, 19-rebound performance. He set a career high in rebounds.
However, Eastern has lost confidence at the free-throw line in recent games. A solid foul shooter throughout his career, Eastern has hit just 7-of-22 free throws in the last three games, including going 4-of-12 against Waukegan.
The left-handed Eastern even has experimented with shooting his free throws right-handed in recent games, including in the sectional final. But Ellis said he expects that experiment to end.
“(Eastern) is going through a stage now where he’s trying to find his rhythm (at the free- throw line) to go on a run and make it downstate,” Ellis said. “He tried right-handed, but (now) he’s just going back to the way it’s been.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press