Simpson, North Chicago turn back Grant
North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman was faced with a tricky predicament during the Warhawks’ North Suburban Prairie Division contest at Grant on Friday night.
Standout junior guard Aaron Simpson had just picked up his third foul of the game with 1:44 left in the first half. Naturally, Coleman removed the star guard — but put him back in the 30 seconds later.
“I wanted to get him out after we scored and by calling a timeout,” Coleman said afterward. “But I couldn’t so I told him ‘don’t foul.’ ”
Simpson stayed in the game — and kept hounding the Bulldogs.
Simpson, who currently has offers from DePaul, Florida, Illinois, St. Louis and Purdue, scored 23 of his game-best 38 points to lift North Chicago to an 85-77 win, its second over Grant this season.
“I think my coach can trust me in situations like that,” Simpson said. “I figure I can play hard and the referees will give me the benefit of the doubt.”
North Chicago remains atop the NSC Prairie with a 6-1 mark (8-9 overall), while Grant slipped out of contention for the division race (10-6, 4-3).
“We came into this season with the goal of winning this division,” said Grant coach Wayne Bosworth. “The kids are disappointed, but we need to go out now and work on winning all of the games left on our schedule.”
Grant took its last lead at 72-71 with 4:41 to play on a brilliant feed from senior guard Vic Muntu to junior Jerry Gaylor (10 points). Muntu had a sensational performance with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 7 steals and 8 assists.
“He’s the only senior guard we have and he was a leader for us tonight,” Bosworth said. “We know he is capable of games like that each night out.”
Simpson and junior guard Marzhon Bryant (14 points) proceeded to take control of the contest over the next three minutes. The two combined for all 10 of the Warhawks’ points during a 10-0 run that proved to be a decisive blow to the Bulldogs.
“We got real patient there at the end of the game,” Simpson said. “We took our time on offense and made good plays on defense.”
“Our transition defense really hurt us at the end,” Bosworth added. “Every time we missed a shot (North Chicago) turned and got a run out on us.”
Grant refused to go quietly taking leads on three separate occasions in the second half. Junior Ilya Kadushin scored 10 of his team-high 21 points in the third quarter to keep the Bulldogs close.
Junior Jared Helmich also had a big night for Grant pouring in 18 points to go with 12 rebounds.