Battle of Chicago: Simeon Still the King

As Omar Little from The Wire proclaimed “You come at the King, you best not miss.” Whitney Young came at Simeon, the King of Chicago on Saturday night, but Whitney Young didn’t take their best shot and now Chicago and the state of Illinois still belong to Simeon until proven otherwise. Despite coming in to Saturday night’s showdown with Whitney Young as the lower ranked team, Simeon won their 44^th consecutive game in Illinois with a 44-41 victory. In a game where Simeon’s top player, Jabari Parker struggled, it was the two future fighting Illini guards in Kendrick Nunn and Jaylon Tate that stepped up.

Parker and Okafor struggled throughout

 Coming into the match-up, junior center Jahlil Okafor was dominating the high school scene on both the national and local level. While no one player or team had slowed him down this season, Simeon and their zone defense did the trick. Last year, Simeon kept Okafor from touching the ball and held him nine points in a playoff showdown. This year, Simeon once again eliminated Okafor’s touches and held him to eight points, with six of those coming in the first quarter. 

Simeon controlled the first half jumping out to a 23-14 halftime lead as Whitney Young failed to find quality shots against the zone defense. On the offensive side of the ball, Tate was breaking down his defenders and getting to the basket for lay-ups while Nunn was busy catching alley-oops.

Despite the early halftime deficit, junior guard L.J. Peak led a furious third quarter comeback from Whitney Young which resulted in a short lived lead at 34-32. Peak started his scoring spree with a two-hand dunk at the 5:15 mark and then mixed in some deep three’s and jump shots to score 14 points in the quarter. 

After giving up their halftime lead, Simeon quickly answered back with a Parker jump shot to take a 36-34 lead which was then pushed out to a 42-36 lead soon thereafter. Whitney Young once again cut into that lead and got to within one point at 42-41 after an Ausar Madison three-pointer; however Tate quickly answered back by slicing to the basket for a lay-up giving Simeon a 44-41 lead. Simeon then forced Whitney Young until several contested three point attempts before the final buzzer sounded.

Tate led the way for Simeon with 12 points, while Nunn added 10 and Parker chipped in with 7. LJ Peak led the way for Whitney Young with 20 points while both Okafor and junior Paul White scored 8 apiece.

Overall:

No one could have predicted that both the number two ranked senior and number two ranked junior in the country would score in single digits. As both Parker and Okafor struggled throughout the game, it was Simeon’s other starters that stepped up to get the win while only Peak brought his A game for Whitney Young. Coming into this game Whitney Young had the confidence and swagger needed to knock off the three time defending state champs; however they were not able to get over the hump and will now be at a severe mental disadvantage when facing off with Simeon later in the season. Despite having its coach suspended, Simeon’s zone flustered Whitney Young and Simeon’s guards made just enough key plays to extend their city win streak and “top dog” persona.