Simeon’s Jaleni Neely, center, tries to hold on to the ball as Young players Ahmad Starks, left, and Kwai Pearson step up for the double-team. Simeon took the 4A crown Saturday with a 51-36 win. Defender/Worsom Robinson
The Simeon Wolverines capped an impressive post-season run with a decisive 51-36 win over the Whitney Young Dolphins to win the 2009-2010 Class 4A state boys basketball championship. Simeon is no stranger to winning state titles, having won back-to-back trophies in 2006 and 2007. This year, however, they spent most of the season slipping ever-lower in the rankings and it was the defending 4A champion Whitney Young Dolphins who went into the state playoffs with high expectations. But the underdog Wolverines were not fazed by their fall in public opinion, and remained confident going into the game that they would perform well and win. “They underestimated us,” said junior forward Darien Walker. “They think that ranking stuff means something. It’s whoever wants it more.” And Walker should know. He opened up the Wolverines’ first-quarter scoring barrage with a three-pointer, and went on to score the first seven points of the game. The scoring continued almost unabated and Simeon led Young 21-5 after one quarter of play. “I just wanted to come out aggressive and get them out of the way early,” said Walker. And the Wolverine aggression was evident in the final stat line. Simeon scored 24 points in the paint compared to 12 for Young, and they snared 15 offensive rebounds to Young’s five. But it was the Wolverines’ smothering defense that kept Young out of sync and trailing the entire contest. The Dolphins’ top scorer Anthony Johnson scored 13 points on 4-11 shooting and Ahmad Starks tallied just 10 points, going 4-10 from the field. Defense has been the Wolverines’ forte all season, but coach Robert Smith said they exceeded expectations. “We never thought we would slow them down that much. We’ve been great defensively all year,” said Smith. “Offensively we’ve struggled at times and didn’t average as many points as we thought we should have, but defensively we were great most of the year. And Saturday night we were definitely great. We were only giving them one shot at the basket and we contested every shot that they took – so we made it a little difficult for them.” Swingman Brandon Spearman (13 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals) stepped up his play for Simeon in the second half, and the senior’s workmanlike style of play on offense and defense is the kind of basketball coach Smith appreciates. “Brandon has a willingness to win and it’s hard to find guys who bring it like that every day,” said Smith. “He put his hard hat on and did everything it took for us to win.” And that’s the Simeon philosophy – just win! It doesn’t take a superstar – though Simeon has had its share – it just takes belief and an unselfish team effort, according to Smith. “You don’t have to have a star to win. Every man has a job to do, and everything will be fine if everybody does their part,” he said. Right now things couldn’t be finer in the land of the Wolverines – just ask Walker. “We silenced everybody who doubted us,” he said. “Nobody counted us in it, but that made us play even harder.”
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