In their second meeting of the season, New Trier Girls Basketball lost on the road to No. 7 ranked Evanston 50-44.

The Trevians fell behind early in the first quarter to the Wildkits and despite some signs of hope they were never able to gain the lead.

With the win, the Wildkits remain undefeated in the Central Suburban League and the Trevians slip to 3-5 in conference play.

The Trevian players knew the game was going to be tough heading into a hostile environment, but senior forward Kristie Kalis believes the team had a good chance to win.

“We could’ve been a little stronger with the ball,” said Kalis, “Also they scored on a lot of our turnovers so we should have gotten back in transition to make a play.”

New Trier had sparks of hope in the third quarter from junior sharp shooter Maggie Murdock who knocked down two three pointers to cut the deficit, but it wasn’t enough to mount a comeback.

“One of our team’s strengths is shooting.” said Murdock, “Almost everyone on the team team can shoot threes which definitely helps us because it gives us the ability to comeback in close games.

Kalis also thinks the team can shoot the ball well, but she believes the team’s biggest strength is their ball movement, “Our obvious strength is our shooting, but I think our biggest strength is that we play as a team. We are all unselfish and want everyone to play their best that it doesn’t matter who scores.”

Evanston’s Leighah-amori Wool also had a huge game for the Wildkits on the offensive glass seemingly snagging a rebound on every shot. The senior averages 9.2 rebounds per game and 12.3 points per game.

According to Kalis, the Trevians didn’t have much of a game plan to shut down Evanston’s high powered offense that is averaging 58 points per game.

“We talked about what we needed to do on offense and defense,” said Kalis, “but our main game plan was just to play hard because we really had nothing to lose.”

One of the main issues New Trier was forced to face was the speed in Evanston’s transition game. It was nearly impossible for the Trevians to mount a comeback because every time the New Trier scored, Evanston would respond with a quick lay up.

Even though the team lost, there were still signs of improvement from the young Trevian squad. The last time these two teams met, Evanston defeated the trevians by an overwhelming 44-28.

Kalis believes the team needs to keep improving as the season progress and as playoffs approach, “We are going have to start with setting small goals in practices so we can reach our ultimate goal of getting as far in playoffs as possible.”

A good note for the trevians was how the team performed in the hostile environment of the Evanston gym.

The entire atmosphere felt like a playoff game, but the team was not intimidated by the big crowd or intense environment.

“We actually played a lot better there than when we played at home,” said Kalis, “the crowd was big and it made the game fun and our team plays a lot better when we are having fun.”

Next game, the Trevians clash with the Maine South Hawks on Friday Febuary 10.

New Trier will attempt to upgrade on its 16-10 season record, while the Hawks try to climb their way back up the Central Suburban South’s standings.