The Evanston Township High School girls basketball team hopes to reestablish its solid play to finish the season. Heading into the Dundee-Crown tournament, the Wildkits had an overall record of 8-3.
Leading up to that tournament, the Kits beat Glenbrook North, 45-20, on Dec. 14 and lost to No. 19 Niles West, 57-43, on Dec. 17.
On Dec. 27, the Kits opened the Dundee-Crown tournament on a bad note, losing to Prospect, 54-46. “The Prospect game was a little rough for us,” said senior Nichelle Campbell. “We are a no excuses team and we just did not show up to play. We blame no one but ourselves.”
The Kits were able to bounce back the next day against Maine West, winning the game, 35-28. Campbell led the Kits with eight points, five rebounds and two steals.
On Dec. 29, the Kits lost to Buffalo Grove, 52-44, and lost to Resurrection the next day, 42-36. Against Resurrection, the Kits were led by senior Leiya English, who had nine points. With the loss, the Kits record fell to 9-6 overall.
Regarding Buffalo Grove, Campbell said, “I think in [that] game we played with a lot of heart and the effort was there. What hurt us the most was the early foul trouble we got into as a team. We put them to the line multiple times and we let the game slip away.”
The Kits went, 1-3, in the Dundee-Crown tournament. After the tournament, Campbell said, “This [was] an amazing tournament. It [gave] us a chance to see where we are as a team midway through the season and lets us know what we need to really work on so that when the second run-through of conference comes around we are ready for battle.”
With the second half of the season underway, the Kits are confident in their ability to continue the quality of play they had at the start of the season. When asked what the team’s goals for the rest of the year are, Campbell said, “As a team we expect to dominate on both ends of the floor. Some of our goals are to hold teams to less than 30 points per game. Our defense is a key to our success as a team. We also strive to win [the Central Suburban League South] conference.”
Senior Kalyn Bondurant added, “Our goals and expectations for the second half are to play more as a team and to show teams what Evanston is really about. We have a deep bench and everyone has some way they can give to the team. So we want to show our strength as a team.”
The Kits were scheduled to play Northside College Prep on Jan. 4, the day this paper went to press. From there, they play against archrival New Trier on Jan. 7 at Welsh Ryan Arena. Then they play Oak Park-River Forest on Jan. 11 and against Glenbrook South on Jan. 14.
Campbell added, “I am very confident that our team will come up big in the second half of the season. We put in so much work and I think we, as a team, care so much about each other that we expect nothing but the best from each other. The heart of our team will take us very far.”