Eastern takes leading role in Evanston Township (Ill.) win over Scott County (Ky.)

Evanston Township (Ill.) was not pleased with the way it played in its Beach Ball Classic opener on Monday, though it managed to survive with a one-point victory over Providence (Fla.).

Evanston senior Nojel Eastern took matters into his own hands on Wednesday to ensure the Wildkits had a less stressful victory in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

The versatile 6-foot-6 guard who is committed to Purdue led the Wildkits in points with 22, rebounds with eight, assists with five and blocks with two in its 68-59 win over Scott County (Ky.) on Wednesday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

“I try to do whatever I can possibly do to get us to the next round of the tournament,” Eastern said. “I just tried to compete and keep my teammates up. That was a great team win for us today.”

Evanston (12-1) will face Pace Academy of Atlanta in the semifinals Friday.

The Wildkits looked to be in for another nail-biter in a back-and-forth first half that featured two ties and 11 lead changes.

But a 6-0 run in the final minute of the first half gave Evanston a nine-point lead that was cut to seven just before the buzzer on a Michael Moreno basket.

“It felt like it was going to be a game of back and forth,” Evanston coach Mike Ellis said. “That’s a really good, young and talented team. They have a lot of talented sophomores. Our guys were at that point three years ago playing a lot of varsity as sophomores, and now they’re seniors. So hopefully we were going to have that work to our advantage. … Our guys really stepped up those last four minutes going away. They made the plays down the stretch.”

Evanston never relinquished the lead in the second half, though it was cut to two points on a three-point play by sophomore Bryce Long with 6:30 remaining that capped a 10-4 Scott County run.

The Cardinals (8-2) had four attempts at 3-pointers to either tie the game or take the lead during their run but missed all of them.

“We had to fight so hard to get back in it, and then we had several opportunities … and I think that broke their backs,” Scott County coach Billy Hicks said.

Evanston took command from that point with a 15-2 run that was fueled largely by Eastern.

He began the run with a three-point play on a drive to the basket and capped it with another layin, and added another three points on a layin and free throw. Ryan Bost had a put-back on a break, Elyjah Williams had a steal and layin and Jaheim Holden had a three-point play off a drive in the decisive run.

“[Eastern] has been prone to turning it over, playing too fast and out of control. Tonight I thought he was our rock,” Ellis said. “He had five assists and only two turnovers and that ratio was the best on the team. It was good to see him solidify our play, both in the low post without the ball where he can score and get us an easy basket, and as well with the ball out front and making decisions when he was breaking the defense down.”

Evanston’s length and athleticism was reflected in rebounding, as the Wildkits outrebounded Scott County 35-19.

“They killed us on the boards,” Hicks said. “They gave us one shot and that’s it, and it’s tough to win like that. The outrebounded us by 16 rebounds and that doesn’t happen very often. That’s’ a tribute to their athleticism and how tough they are, and that killed us. We needed some easy put-backs and just didn’t get them.”

Williams and Holden were in double digits scoring for Evanston with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Moreno, a 6-7 sophomore, had 22 points and six rebounds for Scott County on 10 of 21 shooting.

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Eastern takes leading role in Evanston Township (Ill.) win over Scott County (Ky.)."