GAMER: NT 56, EVANSTON 40
Ciaran Brayboy, seen here in earlier action this season, played a major role in New Trier’s win over Evanston on Feb. 26. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
Not too long ago, Ciaran Brayboy couldn’t walk, couldn’t swallow.
A virus had turned New Trier’s big man into an immobile young man.
“So bad,” the Trevians’ 6-foot-9 junior center said of an illness that sidelined him for three games.
Brayboy, in two words, after NT’s 56-40 defeat of host Evanston in a Central Suburban League South boys basketball showdown on Feb. 16: So good.
Brayboy poured in 12 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 10 rebounds, as NT (21-3, 8-1 in the CSL South) clinched at least a share of the division title. He followed up a put-back bucket off a missed free throw by NT junior forward/center Spencer Boehm with a dunk 24 seconds later, stretching the visitors’ lead to 52-36 with 1:51 remaining.
NT outscored Evanston (20-5, 8-2) 21-8 in the final frame to avenge an overtime loss to the Wildkits in Winnetka on Jan. 12.
“Our composure,” Trevians coach Scott Fricke said of what impressed him the most about his club’s effort in front of a packed, raucous audience. “I’m proud of these guys. We withstood a couple of runs, and when Evanston got into a little foul trouble, we decided to throw the ball inside.”
Brayboy took care of the finishing business in the paint.
Fricke’s boys of winter led 27-23 at the half, thanks mostly to junior guard Sam Silverstein’s 10 points in the second quarter. Six of the 10 (also Silverstein’s point total for the game) came on a pair of treys.
“He was unbelievable,” Fricke said of the reserve.
Boehm had eight points and seven boards, and NT senior guard/forward Griffin Ryan tallied two points in each quarter and grabbed six caroms; Silverstein and senior guard Brian Conaghan finished with five rebounds apiece, and savvy senior point guard Andrew Kirkpatrick netted five points and ran a superb floor show.
Gurards Jaheim Holden and Lance Jones paced the Wildkits with 12 points apiece. A Holden three-pointer at 3:10 of the fourth quarter cut NT’s lead to 44-36, but NT responded with an 8-0 run to deflate the hosts.
“We didn’t just clinch a share of our league’s [division] title,” Fricke said. “We did it in a season when the CSL South had never been this competitive. So many great teams.”
Two of them — Evanston and New Trier — received the top two seeds, respectively, in the Class 4A Maine East Sectional. Two others — Niles North and Maine South — are also expected to make deep postseason runs.
NT faces host Niles North next week in its CSL South finale; inclement weather postponed the matchup on Feb. 9.