Lima Senior and Dayton Dunbar’s boys basketball teams did not have to spend long hours going over scouting reports before their game in the Kewpee Tip-Off Classic on Saturday night. They knew each other well.
Knowledge was not power for Dunbar, though, when Lima Senior rolled to a 92-82 win that wasn’t as close as the score made it look.
Lima Senior jumped out to a 48-24 halftime lead and was up 70-50 after three quarters before the Wolverines narrowed the margin after the Spartans brought on their bench players late in the game.
“I knew we’d be ready to play Dunbar. They know these guys from summer ball. All these guys have kind of personal relationships with several of those guys. I knew we’d be ready to go,” Lima Senior coach Quincey Simpson said.
Xavier Simpson scored 30 points to lead Lima Senior (4-0). Marquavious Wilson had 21 points and Jarius Ward scored 14 points off the bench. Terrance Landers led Dunbar (4-2) with 29 points and Storm Cook scored 25.
Wilson had 40 points, 10 rebounds and hit three 3-pointers in two weekend games against Dunbar and Hazelwood (Mo.) East.
“He’s probably our most versatile player. He’s big, he’s strong, he can handle the ball. He can shoot the ball. He’s going to be hard to guard. He’s just going to continue to get better,” Quincey Simpson said about his post player.
Lima Senior’s win played out much the same way as its 77-62 victory over Hazelwood East did on Friday night when it got off to a fast start.
Lima Senior shot 65 percent on field goals in the first two quarters on Saturday night (18 of 28) and hit 61 percent in the game (34 of 56).
Dunbar (4-2) kept it reasonably close after one quarter at 21-12. But when Lima Senior went on a 10-0 run in the first 2 ½ minutes of the second quarter the Spartans were in control of the game.
Dunbar, who lost to Defiance in the Division II state tournament semifinals last season, has won at least 20 games the last six seasons and 10 of the last 11 seasons. But the Wolverines looked like they might have a little work to do to reach that level this season.
Quincey Simpson said he wasn’t bothered by Dunbar cutting into Lima Senior’s lead late in the game. “Sometime you have to give other guys a chance to play,” he said.
Lima Senior used its third starting lineup in four games when Darius Gordon (7 points, 4 rebounds) started at one of the guard positions along with Ruben Flowers, Jaylin Thomas, Xavier Simpson and Wilson.
“We’re still experimenting with rotations,” Quincey Simpson said. “We’ve got nine guys (in the rotation). When I substitute, I substitute to get better. I don’t want to get worse. Rico Stafford and Jarius Ward – they’re obviously starters. But at the same time I want to have some instant offense, to have some fire and energy coming off the bench.
“I thought Darius did an incredible job but we don’t know if that’s what it’s going to be Tuesday (at home against Findlay). We’ll look at the tape and go from there,” he said.
In Saturday’s first game, Hazelwood East, coach by Lima Senior graduate Lawndale Thomas, defeated Columbus Marion Franklin 60-47.
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