Sophomore Charity Bryant, seen here playing against Waukegan in early February, scored 25 points as ETHS romped over Maine West in the opening round of the Glenbrook South Regional tournament on Tuesday. Credit: Richard Cahan
When Brittanny Johnson first saw the pairings for the Class 4A Illinois High School Association state girls basketball tournament a couple of weeks ago, the Evanston coach couldn’t help flashing back to the start of her career at ETHS.
“When I saw that we were going to play Maine West first (in the regional), a chill went down my spine,” said Johnson, recalling that the Warriors eliminated the Wildkits in the sectional championship game — including twice in overtime — three of her first four years as head coach.
“The players we have now don’t know just how heartbreaking that was, especially losing back-to-back [2019 and 2020] in overtime. They don’t get it. But it’s always good for me personally now when we beat Maine West in the postseason.”
Johnson didn’t need to lose any sleep over dealing with the Warriors Tuesday. Charity Bryant’s 25 points led the Kits to a 61-46 romp in the opening round of the Glenbrook South Regional tournament.
It wasn’t as close as the final margin, as ETHS almost put the running clock into effect in the third quarter. Johnson’s squad improved to 16-10 on the season and will face host Glenbrook South, a 69-25 winner over Niles West in the other regional semi, in the championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Maine West (14-14) had more turnovers (18) than points (14) against Evanston’s pressure defense in the first half and trailed 54-26 after three quarters before making the final more respectable behind three players who tallied most of their points when the outcome was already decided.
Ava Roback (15 points), Dayliana Rodriguez (10) and Kaitlyn Nutley (10) reached double figures for the Warriors. Freshman Simone Hewitt (12 points) and Payton King (10 points, 6 rebounds) backed up Bryant as the winners shot 54% (26-of-48) from the field.
“We were just trying to get to the next game tonight,” Johnson said. “It’s just survive and advance in the playoffs. But I think we’re playing our best basketball right now. I’m really excited about Thursday, and I know the girls are, too.”
The 2017 version of Johnson probably wouldn’t recognize some of the innovations she’s using with the current squad. Never known as a coach who presses much, she’s chosen to dial up the pressure this season despite the fact that she doesn’t have a deep bench she can rely on and has to manage the minutes for the starters much more than in the past.
This isn’t her most athletic team either. But the ability to mix in presses to keep foes off-balance is a big factor in the way the Wildkits have been able to turn the program around following last year’s dismal campaign.
And in her 10th year as a high school head coach, Johnson has come to the conclusion that a new statistic (at least for her) on defense — deflections — might be just as significant as the number of steals the Wildkits can produce.
“I’ve never coached a team that caused this many deflections before, and I love that,” she said. “We’re not as quick as in the past, but we have to be one of the top teams in the state when it comes to our length. We have girls with long arms and legs and we get a lot of deflections because of that. They do such a good job of disrupting passing lanes, of jumping to the ball.
“I just love it when I see the other team travel, throw the ball out of bounds or just not catch it because of our pressure. We can turn them over in a variety of ways. It’s not just about steals.
“We’ve used so many different defenses this year, maybe six or seven in a game. Every game plan dictates something different and it’s been more like a chess game for me as a coach. These girls are eager to learn new things, and that eagerness has actually rubbed off on me.”
Evanston, the No. 5 sectional seed, opened up a 23-12 advantage midway through the second period Tuesday and then pulled away with a 17-0 run to make it 40-14 at halftime. Six different Wildkits scored during that surge, including six from Hewitt on a shot in the lane, a putback after she grabbed a long rebound, and a pair of free throws.
Bryant, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, connected on all four of her field goal attempts in the third quarter — including a pair of 3-point baskets — and finished 11-of-16 from the field while sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
Evanston earned a rematch with GBS after the two teams split a pair of regular season meetings in Central Suburban League South division play. Evanston won 53-51 at home, then went scoreless in the fourth quarter of a 41-33 loss at GBS after leading by five points to start the final quarter.
“It will be a battle, and it will come down to who executes at the end of the game,” Johnson said. “We played the worst game imaginable against them last time. I have to believe we’ll show up as a lot different team because our girls have a lot to prove.
“If I were a betting woman, I’d bet we won’t play that bad again.”
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