Evanston’s explosive start dooms New Trier

For 28 minutes, New Trier and Evanston boys basketball went punch for punch.

Unfortunately for the Trevians, the game is 32 minutes.

And in the first four minutes, the Wildkits provided a knockout-caliber blow to the Trevians in the rivalry contest on Friday night in front of a capacity crowd in Winnetka.

Evanston quickly jumping out to a 16-4 lead, and while New Trier cut the deficit to one possession once, a true comeback never materialized in the host’s 62-52 loss.

“We dug ourselves a hole and it was an uphill battle the whole night,” Trevians coach Scott Fricke said. “I thought our kids played tough from then on.”

New Trier actually scored first, but the Trevs’ 4-3 lead — following a Ben Zieziula lay-in — was their final one of the night.

At that point, Evanston went on a 13-0 run to snag a commanding advantage it never relinquished.

“They were just executing their stuff,” New Trier senior Colby Smith said. “We went man (defense) and they were killing us in the post. … We switched to our 2-zone, which has been working all year, and they just sliced it — pass, pass, pass, layup.”

On the other end of the floor, Smith said he and the Trevians were too impatient with their shot attempts. Threes from Smith and Max Vogel helped stem the bleeding, but New Trier was already in too big of a hole.

“Just the combination of their execution and our quick shot attempts killed us early,” he said, adding “And that’s an easy fix. We fixed that in the third quarter and started scoring. I guess we just had the jitters or something early.”

Behind 10 second-quarter points from Christopher Kirkpatrick, the Trevians cut the deficit to eight points by halftime, and then a 6-0 run to start the third period made it a one-possession game at 35-32.

But Evanston responded, extending the lead back to eight by the end of the third, where Smith scored seven of his 14 points.

New Trier never got closer than five points in the final stanza, and the Wildkits picked up a big rivalry and Central Suburban League South victory in front of a standing-room only crowd.

“Every game is a teacher. This is just a learning moment,” Smith said. “We are going to see them again (Feb. 11), maybe twice (the teams are in the same sectional), so we can just watch this, look at our weaknesses and improve from there.”

Kirkpatrick led New Trier with 19 points. Max Vogel chipped in 11 to go with 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. New Trier also got productive post minutes from Matthew Logue, a sophomore making his varsity debut.

The win puts New Trier and Evanston, both of which have one league loss apiece, in a virtual tie atop the CSL South. The Trevians have three road games remaining on their conference slate: Glenbrook North (Feb. 7), Evanston (Feb. 11) and Glenbrook South (Feb. 14).

But there’s more where that came from. The Trevians’ powerhouse schedule continues Saturday, Feb. 1, with a test against 20-2 McHenry in the War on the Shore at Loyola Academy in Wilmette. A couple days later, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, New Trier will host 21-2 Fremd.

Fricke pointed out the Trevians’ challenging stretch of competition has lasted nearly the entire season.

“There have been no breaks the past four weeks,” he said. “It’s a grind, but hopefully we are ready at the end because of it.

“We have to come out and play hard again tomorrow. Every game is important. … It’s been like that since (the Pontiac holiday tournament) so we’re used to it. These guys are mentally tough … but it’s a long season and it’s tough.”

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