They whipped the ball around the court without hesitation, unselfishly maneuvering for the best shot. They dove on the court for loose balls and ferociously hounded Lindblom into turnovers.
And most importantly, they won. Tim Flowers’ Simeon is finding its identity.
The Wolverines knocked off visiting Lindblom 64-45 on Thursday, evening their record at 9-9 and moving just one game behind top-ranked Curie into second place in the Red/South Central.
“We took the initiative to find the next man and make the extra pass to get buckets,” Simeon’s Andre Tyler said. “We defended well and rebounded as a team, collectively boxing out.”
Tyler, an athletic 6-5 sophomore, is growing into his role as the Wolverines’ next star player. He led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds and shot 8-for-12.
“I wouldn’t say [Tyler] is a star yet,” Flowers said. “We want to make sure our kids understand the program is bigger than yourself. But he’s growing up and he has so much talent. No one in the state has a better sophomore class.”
Junior Lorenzo Shields added 17 points and senior Rashad McKinnie scored 12 for Simeon (9-9, 4-1 Red-South/Central).
Simeon took control right from the start, leading by eight after one quarter and 13 at halftime. The Wolverines never let Lindblom (12-8, 3-4), an experienced, veteran team, back into the game in the second half.
“[Back in December] they guys were still trying to figure out who the guy next to them was,” Flowers said. “Now they have figured out how special Andre Tyler is, who special Kassidy Nelson is and how big Isaiah Coleman is. Our older guys are trusting them.”
McKinnie was the only returning player that logged significant time last year. It was always going to take a while for a new team with a new coach to figure things out. Especially with the long shadow of Robert Smith and the Simeon name to live up to.
Flowers and Tyler both say that the goals haven’t changed and that Simeon will always strive to win the city and state championships. But from the outside, hitting the .500 mark this season feels like a significant moment.
Simeon’s Lorenzo Shields celebrates after he makes a three against Lindblom.
Chicago Sun Times
And a win against Lindblom, a team that knocked off Kenwood on the road earlier in the season and has one of the state’s best players in senior Je’Shawn Stevenson (24 points, nine rebounds) is a significant sign of progress.
“It was always going to look different with [Smith] gone,” Flowers said. “But these young boys are giving us everything they’ve got every day, win or lose and we couldn’t be happier with that.”
Simeon has two more out-of-state games this season and conference matchups against Brooks and Englewood. The regular season winds up with a home game against Curie. That will likely be for the conference championship.
“People think we’re not good because we lost a lot of games out of town,” Shields said. “But we’ve learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses and everything is starting to flow. This is still Simeon and we think we have a good chance of winning every game.”