Fueled by the support of a jam-packed gymnasium, the boys’ varsity basketball team defeated their inner-conference rivals, the Evanston Wildkits, on Friday, Feb. 1 with a final score of 58-50.

It was a game of scrap and hustle right from the get-go. One might have thought it was a wrestling meet at first glance, with both teams sacrificing their bodies by sprawling out on the floor to secure the ball.

Senior Joe Younan scored the first bucket for the Wolves. Without any mercy, Niles West immediately suffocated Evanston’s hope of an offensive possession by forcing a five-second inbound violation. Just seconds later, junior guard Dwayne Smith forced yet another five-second violation on Evanston’s offense.

Both teams seemed to mirror each other throughout the contest — and Niles West’s head coach Bob Williams agreed, saying, “We both played with a will to win. When you look at it, these are two very similar teams. We both played tough defense and struggled scoring.”

Smith and senior Mohammed Quereshi were the catalysts of Niles West’s defense. Dwayne’s in-your-face on-ball defense and quick-foot speed made it very difficult for the Wildkits he guarded to get by him. In the rare case Smith’s man beat him to the hoop, Quereshi was there to protect the rim — he had a game-high four blocks on the night.

Evanston gave Niles West a taste of its own medicine in the closing seconds of the third quarter, forcing a five-second inbound violation. Off the turnover, Evanston’s prayers were answered as they buried a three-quarter court buzzer beater. Their fans roared with approval as the lucky shot whittled down Niles West’s lead to 38-35.

There is an age-old saying,: “Offense wins games, and defense wins championships,” and it stayed true Friday evening. In order to win the game, someone needed to step up on offense. Seniors Alex Darville and Younan were fit for the job. Younan marched down the court and casually drained a three pointer, only to do the exact same thing less than a minute later. Darville polished off his red-hot night with a basket plus a foul. He nailed the free throw, putting the game out of reach for the Wildkits. Darville had a team-high 19 points.

Without star-senior David McCoy, the Wolves still managed to gut out a much-needed victory. There was no better way to bounce back from their tough loss to Maine South (a week earlier) than to do so with a victory in front of their ecstatic home crowd.

Next, the Wolves will play host to the Glenbrook South Titans on Friday, Feb. 8.