With senior guard Zuri Ransom out due to a lingering ankle injury, Evanston couldn’t put its losing streak to an end on Friday night in Beardsley Gym against Glenbrook North.
The Spartans’ electric junior guard Alexis Myers posted 20 points on the way to giving Evanston its eighth-straight loss with the Kits falling, 48-45.
Despite defeating the Spartans in December, a Ransom-less Evanston came out of the gate slowly. Right off the bat, the Kits couldn’t hold down the Spartans’ offense. Senior duo Brekcen Carsello and Caitlyn Ethen traded scores back-to-back, and the Spartans’ quick and physical defense complemented these trades to hold Evanston to four points in the first quarter.
“We have to play hard,” said Evanston head coach Brittanny Johnson. “[Basketball] is a game that’s played competitively and hard, [but] we’re not playing hard right now. We’re not competing, [and] that’s probably the most frustrating part.”
With the second quarter underway, the Kits hoped to break the ice offensively. These plans seemed impossible with junior Alexis Myers draining back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 20-6 ballgame. Evanston’s offense woke up with senior Kailey Starks scoring inside-contested finishes on consecutive possessions and junior Jayla Warren making a physical post-up layup resulting in a foul and a three-point play for Evanston. The Spartans seemed not to be phased by the Wildkits 3-0 run; with inbound plays and cutting players extending their lead to make it 28-19 sounding at the halftime buzzer.
Ransom, Evanston’s top scorer and D1 Ball State commit, didn’t join the game due to a lingering ankle injury.
“We don’t play hard enough to win,” Johnson voiced. “Yeah, [Zuri Ransom] makes a difference, but she shouldn’t make a difference in our effort on offense and defense.”
Myers opened the gate to the second half with a three-point play, with freshman Payton King responding on a two-point jump shot for Evanston. Starks again showed her fast and physical game by grabbing a tough rebound and scoring at the other end. With multiple baskets from the King and Starks duo, the Kits rallied back to only a two-point deficit, 33-31. Freshman Jaylah McLure netted a clutch close-range two to tie the game, but one play later, Myers drove to the paint and sank a floater to give the Spartans the edge, 35-33.
Going into the fourth quarter, King hit a cutting Starks to give Evanston its first lead since the first quarter of play, 38-36. But following the pattern of the rest of the game, Myers and GBN’s Caitlyn Ethen hit multiple clutch shots for the Spartans to allow them to run away with the win. The game pushed the Kits’ record 9-12, extending their eighth-game losing streak.
“I think that was a carryover for the last game,” Johnson said. “We’re up big, and we let them come back. We made it close at the end. I feel [as if] that gave them the confidence to come in here and beat us today.”
“We woke up in the second half, but we didn’t deserve to win because of our effort.”
Evanston will host Maine South on Friday, Jan. 26. The Kits last took on Maine South on Dec. 15, when a last-minute shot by the Hawks propelled the match into an overtime loss for Evanston.
