After a 64-55 victory over La Lumiere on Saturday, Dec. 2, the Kits sought to keep their four-game win streak alive on Tuesday night in Beardsley Gym against Chicago Bulls Prep—and they did just that.
Junior Theo Rocca paved the way with an 18-point performance, and senior Brandon Watson and Jonny Dickson paced the offense to a commanding 59-35 win.
“It’s important to keep a winning mentality, even when the game is not so close,” Rocca said. “It will prepare you for upcoming games when you’re in a situation where you’re down, so it’s important to keep competing and never give up.”
Straight off the tip, the Bulls’ bench was passionate, but Evanston (6-1) quickly quieted the guests. Senior big men Antoine Thomas and Morgan Brown were able to score several baskets to put the Kits up 8-2 at the end of the first quarter. Evanston was able to get the ball rolling offensively later in the half with a new mindset going into the second quarter. The Kits drove and cut through the Bulls’ defense, going up 25-15 at the end of the first half.
The offensive side has been taken care of in several games this season for the Kits, but Ellis’ top target in the future is to keep the defense on par.
“We need to work on a little more awareness off the ball on defense,” head coach Mike Ellis said. “We weren’t in the right position at times, leading to some easy baskets that went uncontested.”
The Kits started pressing on the gas right at the start of the third quarter, with sparks being lit behind the arc by senior guard Jonny Dickson, who contributed the first three of the quarter for the hosts. And right next to him was Rocca, who added multiple triples to give the Kits a 43-23 lead at the close of the third.
Evanston scored eleven unanswered points in the final quarter to send Bulls Prep home with a loss. Ellis and the Kits have that same intention going into Friday’s home matchup at 7 p.m. against Evanston’s hardest opponent yet this season, Glenbrook North.
“Glenbrook North is ranked number one [in the state] on [MaxPreps], and we’ve got to be sharp this week in practice,” Ellis said. “It’s our second conference game, and we’re going to focus on improvement.”
