Maine South had gotten off to a slow start. The Hawks were missing shots and discombobulated offensively. The Evanston gym had a lot of energy because of its senior night.
A raucous crowd — complete with a student band playing after every three-pointer — only added to what was a tough conference road game.
In the third quarter, Evanston’s seniors — guards Kailey Starks and Zuri Ransom — started imposing their will on the game. They combined to score all 22 points for Evanston in the third quarter, cutting Maine South’s lead to five before Hawks guard Meegan Fahy responded with a three-pointer from the left corner.
Fahy was huge in Maine South’s 64-55 win over Evanston, scoring 30 points and grabbing five rebounds. Whether it was barreling towards the rim, drawing contact and going to the free-throw line, or knocking down three-pointers, Fahy delivered in a critical road game for Maine South (24-1, 9-0 Central Suburban/South). H
“That’s what a senior and big-time player does,” Maine South coach Jeff Hamann said. “She is one of the best in the state. There’s no doubt about it, and she stepped up big.”
Maine South held a 10-point lead at the half before Evanston (9-14, 4-4) charged back behind spectacular performances from Starks and Ransom. Those two did everything they could to steal the game in front of a lively home crowd.
“We could barely hear each other on the court,” Fahy said. “We just kept getting louder and louder and supporting each other. They had a lot of fans, so they’re just like yelling at you, and picking each other up was important.”
The setup at Evanston is different from most high school gyms. The crowds are elevated above the court as if you’re playing in a pit. It took Maine South some time to adjust to the environment — which was deafening at points during the second half — but the Hawks weathered the storm.
The Hawks used hand signals to call plays, something they work on in practice.
“Once we got in the groove of communicating defensively and our players on the bench calling things out for us, it was such a group effort,” said senior guard Ava Blagojevich, who finished with seven points and two rebounds. And once we got the hang of it, there was no stopping us.”
Defense is what allowed Maine South to build a lead. After a sluggish start, the Hawks woke up in the second quarter when they locked in defensively.
“That’s what makes us very difficult to beat is our defense,” Hamann said. “We extend our zones, and when we do that, we pull the other team out. As long as we communicate, we can be an elite defensive team.”
The Hawks’ defense creates indecision. Usually, the offense forces the defense to react, but the Hawks’ pressure defense forces offenses to respond to them. Anticipation is critical for the Maine South on that end of the floor. They’re constantly jumping passing lanes and seemingly a step ahead of the offense.
Caitlin Leyden, a 6-0 junior forward, finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Ally Pape finished with 10 points as Main South continued to prepare for the state tournament.
“This year, this team is something special and unlike any other team I’ve played on,” Blagojevich said.
Kyle Williams is a staff reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and West Side.