EVANSTON — Prior to the season, one of the Evanston High School boys’ basketball team’s goal was to be the best defensive unit in the state.

It hasn’t always turned out that way through the first 11 games of the season. But on Friday, the Red Devils showed what they were capable of on the defensive end of the floor.

“I think tonight was the best defensive effort we’ve had this year,” Evanston coach Lex Cornia said after the No. 4 Red Devils claimed a 57-41 against No. 3 Green River on Friday to open up conference play in the 4A West.

“We just played hard. We challenged these guys to be more physical, to get on the floor more and they did,” Cornia said. “Now that’s the expectation to play that way every night. Green River is a good team, but just being together and being physical, we took them out of a lot of what they wanted to do.”

Braxton Hiatt poured in a game-high 20 points and Chase Critchfield added 17 to lead the Red Devils, who moved up a spot in the latest coaches and media poll.

“I think it’s a pretty big win, coming in and playing the No. 3 team in the state — especially the first game of conference,” Critchfield said. “That’s what we’ve been looking forward to all season.” 

Evanston (9-3, 1-0) jumped out to a 20-8 first-quarter lead, and the Red Devils never looked back against No. 3 Green River (10-2). 

“It’s a big win. It gives us confidence going forward,” Hiatt said. “All these teams are going in with all these rankings. Here we are down at fourth, which isn’t bad, but it shows we can play with anybody.” 

Evanston extended its lead to 35-15 at halftime, holding the wolves to seven points in the second quarter.

“Today was probably the best defensive game we’ve had this whole season,” Critchfield said. “We had each other’s backs and we were just playing hard-nosed defense.”

The Red Devils went into the fourth quarter with a 43-26 advantage and were able to slow the tempo down to maintain that lead.

Evanston still managed to close out the game with 14 points in the fourth quarter.

“That’s been a challenge for us,” Cornia said. “We’ve been in games where we’ve had a lead that we let get away from us in late minute situations. That’s a huge growth for us. Hopefully guys saw tonight that’s what it feels like to close out a game.” 

Evanston will host rock Springs at 7:30 p.m. tonight for another 4A West matchup.

“We’ve got to bring the same intensity and grit and go get them,” Critchfield said.