Chasing Nojel

Nojel Eastern free throw

By Julia Cardi When the final afternoon bell rang in Evanston Township High School at 3:35, a rush of teenagers and their cacophony of end-of-day chatter flooded the hallways. The open space adjacent to the school’s various athletic facilities clogged with kids heading to practices; in the locker rooms, they traded Timberland boots and jeans […]

Notre Dame ends Evanston’s bid for state basketball title

National anthem

By Julia Cardi Trying not to cry, Nojel Eastern contorted his face after he missed his second-to-last free throw. With the top-seeded Evanston Wildkits trailing the fourth-seeded Notre Dame Dons by nine points late in the final quarter, the junior point guard knew his team wouldn’t go to the state championship. The Wildkits fell in […]

Evanston shortens road to championship with win over Glenbrook South

Micquel Roseman jump shot

By Julia Cardi Three-nineteen-sixteen. The Evanston boys basketball team used the three numbers as its battle cry through strenuous conditioning sessions this past offseason, and the Wildkits put 3-19-16 in group text messages and chanted the sequence after practices and games. March 19, 2016 is the date of this year’s state championship. “We have that […]

Young and hungry: Wildkits freshmen fight to find their way on varsity

Ryan Bost at practice

By Julia Cardi After a signal from coach Mike Ellis, Jaheim Holden hopped from the bench with a grin, shed his warmup T-shirt, and knelt on the sideline, poised to run onto the court. His teammates Lance Jones and Ryan Bost joined him, and for four minutes and 21 seconds of play, the three freshmen […]