Sports

Strong Start Boosts ETHS Girls Basketball Past GBS

The Wildkits bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 44-35 victory over Glenbrook South in Central Suburban League South division action Friday.

Submitted by ETHS Sports Information.

The ability to sustain a strong effort --- especially on defense --- was what separated the Evanston girls basketball team from the rest of the pack last season, one of the most successful in the program’s history.

The current bunch of Wildkits is still searching for a similar identity even after bouncing back from their first loss of the season with a 44-35 victory over Glenbrook South in Central Suburban League South division action Friday at Beardsley Gym.

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Evanston pounced on the visitors for an early double digit lead, then as head coach Elliot Whitefield put it “we got lazy and went on coast. GBS played us pretty much even over the last three quarters. We’re still learning when we have to turn it down a little (energy-wise) so we have something left in the tank. It’s a learning experience, and I guess it’s good to win while you’re still learning.”

Now 8-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play, ETHS was paced Friday by seniors Sierra Clayborn (14 points, 5 steals), Dashae Shumate (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) and Seara Clayborn (8 points, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot). That trio turned up the defensive pressure that staked the hosts to an early advantage and was the opposite of the slow start that allowed New Trier to pile up 20 first-quarter points back on Dec. 6.

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Now Whitefield would like to see a more consistent performance over four quarters. Part of the problem is effort, and the other is the focus on hand-checking and other contact that has basketball coaches all over the state of Illinois trying to figure out just what the Illinois High School Association wants the game to look like.

For a team like the Wildkits that hangs its collective hat on defense, finding that consistency has been an issue.

“I think the questions are still out there for us as far as what kind of team we’re going to be,” Whitefield said. “We need to do a much better job of executing our game plans, and on focusing and competing hard every day in practice. We’re still at the beginning stages when it comes to that as a team. Our seniors need to do a better job of setting the example of what preparation mentally means. What I want is to be able to walk into the lockerroom after a game and say ‘that effort was incredible,’ because if that happens the results will take care of themselves.

“After we got up on GBS we did have a little bit of foul trouble and that didn’t help. You can’t afford to reach in and get silly fouls with your hands. I think the way they’re calling the games now is taking the energy, and the fun, and the momentum out of the game. It’s not basketball anymore. I guess the higher-ups (in the IHSA) have decided you can’t get after each other or play physical. The referees are still trying to figure it out themselves, but from what I’ve seen so far, any physicality has been taken out of the game.

“It’s tougher to pressure the ball and stop other teams from entering the ball on offense now. Our defense this year has just been average at best. At times we play incredible defense, but sustaining it is another matter. That falls on me, and I need to push them harder in practice.”

The Wildkits will play Highland Park (Tuesday), Maine South (Friday) and Loyola Academy (Saturday) next week after learning that they’ve earned a top two seed for the Dundee Crown Holiday Tournament that starts Dec. 26. The Wildkits open tourney play on Dec. 26 at 11:30 a.m. against Naperville Central, a team they lost to in the tourney semifinals last year while placing fourth overall.    


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