Evanston Township says they not ready to give the conference crown up just yet upsets #21 Deerfield on the road!!! Senior Lincoln Williams sets a school single game scoring record. Other performances!

I talked about teams giving up 20 point leads, well Evanston Township ALMOST gave one up tonight at Deerfield but held on. Plus other top performances around the state.

Evanston Township 52 #21 Deerfield 45:

Evanston Township has made 4 Class 4A State Semifinals in the last 6 years. Lost a lot of personnel from last season. They showed they still have enough championship pieces to show the heart of a champion. They are not ready to give up the Central Suburban South crown that easy. Heavy that wears the crown, but they came out firing in the first half. Evanston Township shot 8 for 15 from three in the first half for 57.1% and Deerfield couldn't hit the side of the barn from three the entire game going 2 for 18 for 11% for the game. Evanston led the entire game leading by as many as 20 in first half leading 40-20 at the half. Junior Vito Rocca (#12) was hot in the first half hitting 14 points (6/7 from field, 2/2 from three). Scored only 2 points the second half, as his team only managed 12 points the entire second half. Turnovers, missed shots, two missed open layups, and a missed dunk showed the shooting futility of the half. Deerfield switched to a hard man to man defense in the second half, icing screens so Evanston did not have any open threes. Senior Case Reserve Western commit Evan Nagler came alive offensively in the half scoring 9 of his 12 points in the second half. Senior Darmouth commit Jake Pollack struggled scoring in this game, having a hard time finishing through contact, and dealing with Evanston's double teams. He scored 12 points on 3 for 13 from the floor (0 for 4 from three). With all this Deerfield still had a chance to tie it down the stretch with a three. Pollack missed with 12 seconds left, junior Tate Schroeder (#0 8 points) got the rebound for Evanston, was fouled and hit two free throws to put game out of reach. Sophomore Ben Ojala (#10) hit two more for Evanston for final margin. Evanston Township ups it's record to 4-1, 1-0 in conference play. Deerfield takes it's first loss going to 5-1, 0-1 in conference play.

Top performers in state tonight:

Lincoln Williams, Kankakee 44 points (19/24 FG) (single game school record) 14 rebounds (double/double)

Austin Bramwell, Mascoutah 17 points 6 rebounds 3 steals (junior)

Brayden Watson, Mascoutah 15 points 9 rebounds (freshman)

Evan Mintzer, Highland Park 20 points

Gray Kanter, Highland Park 16 points

Badal, Hinckley Big Rock 18 points 6 rebounds

Kayden Turner, Peoria 15 points (sophomore)

Jacob Marynowski, Glenbard East (Lombard) 16 points

Marcus Johnson, Sycamore 22 points 5 rebounds

Josiah Mitchell, Sycamore 20 points 8 rebounds

Isaiah Feuerbach, Sycamore 18 points 6 rebounds 6 steals

Bryson Mossman, Routt Catholic (Jacksonville) 25 points

Nolan Mossman, Routt Catholic (Jacksonville) 15 points (sophomore)

Arthur Abbey, Rock Island 24 points (junior)

Lawson Zulu, Rock Island 19 points

Deven Marshall, Rock Island 17 points (junior)

Graham Martinson, Yorkville 15 points (sophomore)

Tristan Howard, Perspectives Leadership (Chicago) 9 points 15 rebounds

Jayden Taylor, Perspectives Leadership (Chicago) 9 assists (junior)

Logan Kurtz, Tuscola 19 points 5 rebounds

Sean Reese, Glenbard South (Glen Ellyn) 15 points (junior)

Sieck, Glenbard South (Glen Ellyn) 15 points

TJ Williams, Bolingbrook 19 points

Ethan Vahl, Oswego 25 points 9 rebounds (sophomore)

Jack Dempsey, Oak Lawn 18 points

Marc Harvey, Oak Lawn 15 points

Omar Saleh, Oak Lawn 10 rebounds

Amir Tucker, St Ignatius College Prep (Chicago) 20 points (sophomore)

Chris Bolte, St Ignatius College Prep (Chicago) 19 points (Yale commit)

Dino Giannini, Ridgewood (Norridge) 26 points

Jayden Armstrong, Catholic Academy (Joliet) 17 points 6 assists

Danny Cervantes, Catholic Academy (Joliet) 17 points

Brady Tunkel, Catholic Academy (Joliet) 10 rebounds

Ryan Dinnon, Andrew (Tinley Park) 19 points 10 rebounds (double/double) (junior)

Javeon Sargent Williams, Kennedy (Chicago) 20 points 5 steals

Julian Pantoja, Francis Parker (Chicago) 23 points 5 rebounds

Chris Chiles, Francis Parker (Chicago) 12 rebounds

Micah Evans, Lincoln Way Central (Frankfort) 16 points

Brandon Schreiber, Maine East (Park Ridge) 30 points (5/7 three, 9/10 free throw)

Darron Greer Jr, Argo (Summit) 28 points

Donovan Williams, Stevenson (Lincolnshire) 19 points (4 threes)

Tyler Reed, Lake Zurich 15 points 6 rebounds

Adrien Riep, Lake Zurich 9 points 11 rebounds

Frederick Battaglia, Lake Park (Roselle) 15 points

Colin Stack, Benet Academy (Lisle) 13 points 9 rebounds

Rykan Woo, DePaul College Prep (Chicago) 19 points (Brown commit)

Luke Alvarez, Loyola Academy (Wilmette) 15 points (junior)

Callaghan O'Connor, Bishop McNamara (Kankakee) 20 points

Nedas Venckus, Lockport Township 24 points (junior)

Trace Schaaf, Lockport Township 15 points 10 rebounds (double/double)

Brad Blackman, Crane Medical (Chicago) 17 points 11 rebounds (double/double) 6 blocks

George Gray, Oak Park River Forest 25 points (junior)

Nick Stowasser, South (Crystal Lake) 19 points 5 rebounds 3 steals (junior)

Isaiah Onu, Huntley 18 points (junior)

Aidan Gibbs, Huntley 17 points 5 rebounds

Tyler Thompso, Triad (Troy) 15 points 8 rebounds

Tony Horton Jr, Schaumburg 18 points

Miles Okyne, North (Naperville) 15 points 5 steals

Adam Bauer, Cary Grove 16 points

AJ Berndt, Cary Grove 16 points

Ethan Matz, Carmel Catholic (Mundelein) 19 points

Isaiah Nelson, Taft (Chicago) 17 points 8 rebounds

Diesel McFadden, Taft (Chicago) 10 points 10 rebounds (double/double)

Grant Roberts, Eureka 25 points

Ben Whorlow, St Francis (Wheaton) 18 points 10 rebounds (double/double) (junior)

Cameron Mercer, Riverside Brookfield 19 points 6 assists 9 steals

Liam Enright, Riverside Brookfield 19 points

Terrence James III, Proviso East (Maywood) 31 points 5 rebounds 2 blocks (freshman)

Alex Granville, Central (Grayslake) 17 points

Brysen Meents, Wilmington 24 points

Lester Watson, Thornwood (South Holland) 16 points (sophomore)

Mekhi Young, Thornwood (South Holland) 16 points (sophomore)

Joseph Jones, Crete Monee 20 points

Zyheir Gardner, Crete Monee 16 points

Matt Welch, Glenbard North (Carol Stream) 17 points

Oturo Redento, Glenbard North (Carol Stream) 10 points 10 rebounds (double/double) (junior)

Brayden Hairald, Minooka 20 points 7 rebounds

Larry Harris, Lincoln Park (Chicago) 20 points 11 rebounds (double/double)

Wade Rickhart, Rockridge (Taylorville) 18 points

Chase Ruppert, Heyworth 28 points

Nate Fridman, Glenbrook North (Northbrook) 36 points (career high) (30 in second half) 6 assists (junior)

Abel Poothurail, Glenbrook North (Northbrook) 15 points

Connor Doe, Brimfield 23 points

Dawson Traphagan, Brimfield 12 assists

Griff Hougham, Brimfield 21 points