TOLEDO — Defense and two big plays in the final seconds brought Lima Senior back from 17 points down for a 67-66 boys basketball win at Toledo St. John’s on Tuesday night.
Xavier Simpson scored 26 points and Jarius Ward had 13 points to lead the Spartans in their season opener. Aaron Thompson had 19 points and Harrison Riggs had 18 points for St. John’s (1-2).
St. John’s led 52-35 with 2:56 left in the third quarter and still was up by six points, 66-60, with less than a minute to go.
But a three-pointer by Ward cut the lead to 66-63. Then after a charging call against the Titans, Marquavious Wilson scored with 20 seconds left.
When St. John’s was unable to get the ball in bounds and was hit with a 5-seconds call, Lima Senior set up for a chance to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter.
Simpson’s shot was blocked but it landed in Rico Stafford’s hands and he scored on a put-back with eight seconds to play. Riggs put up a final shot for the win for St. John’s, but Ruben Flowers blocked it to seal the win.
“We found out who could guard. We found out who had some fight. We found out who could collectively sit down and guard and do things the right way,” Lima Senior coach Quincey Simpson said about what the Spartans found in the final minutes.
“We went with a defensive concept. We feel like anytime X (Xavier Simpson) is on the court we can get some scoring, whether he’s making the baskets or setting other guys up.”
Quincey Simpson said big plays are something Stafford has done consistently for a long time.
“Rico has done that throughout his whole career. I’ve had him around me since he was a kid and he has always been able to get baskets by hanging around the rim. And the blocked shot was tremendous. That was a big-time blocked shot (by Flowers). At this level, on the road in this atmosphere, that was just, ‘I’m not going to allow you to win this game for your team.’ He stepped up big time.”
Lima Senior, coming off a Division I regional runner-up finish last season, has big expectations this season. But Quincey Simpson cautioned that a little patience will be necessary.
“It’s just like last year. We’re going to struggle. I believe in a marathon, not a sprint. We’re going to struggle for four, five, six or seven games, then it’s going to come together. We were anxious to have a game. We didn’t have anything to judge ourselves on except a couple scrimmages.”
St. John’s coach Ed Heintschel said, “They hit shots at the end. They got to the rim a lot and we stopped executing against their pressure. They had us running away from them instead of trying to score. It was a disappointing way to end a game.”
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