Before Lima Senior’s 77-59 boys basketball win over Toledo Whitmer on Friday night even began, the Panthers ran into problems when one of their starters discovered he’d left his jersey at home.
And it didn’t get any better when Lima Senior jumped out to a 13-2 lead halfway through the first quarter to start the game.
From there, the Spartans did the sort of things that have gotten them off to an 8-0 start, with the last seven of those victories coming by an average of 32 points.
Xavier Simpson scored 29 points — 13 of them in the final eight minutes — to lead Lima Senior (8-0, 5-0 Three Rivers Athletic Conference).
Jarius Ward (15 points), Marquavious Wilson (12 points) and Jaylin Thomas (11 points) also scored in double figures and Ruben Flowers had a game-high eight rebounds.
Montrece Collins led Whitmer (8-4, 3-3 TRAC) with 20 points and Sam Hickey scored 10.
After Lima Senior built its big early lead, Whitmer cut the lead to 33-24 at halftime and kept it below 10 points early in the second half.
But an 11-0 run that took the score from 39-30 to 50-30 put Lima Senior solidly in control the rest of the way.
“I thought we had a great first quarter, I thought we had a great third quarter. I thought we kind of let our foot off the gas in the second quarter and kind of gave those guys some opportunities,” Lima Senior coach Quincey Simpson said.
“But, hey, we missed four or five shots right at the rim in the second quarter. That’s the difference between being up nine versus being up 20. They were high percentage shots right at the rim, so I can’t be mad about that at all,” he said.
The Spartans shot 48 percent on field goals (30 of 62) overall and 67 percent (16 of 24) in the second half. They were 5 of 17 in the second quarter when Whitmer got back into the game.
“We just came in here (Lima Senior’s locker room) at halftime and talked about our energy, we talked about our effort, playing fast. We’re at our best when we play fast,” Simpson said.
Ward’s 15 points came off the bench. His contribution in scoring and in providing five rebounds were timely because the Spartans were without senior forward Rico Stafford.
“Rico did not play. DNP. Coach’s decision,” Simpson said, when asked about Stafford.
He said Ward has not played his best game yet.
“Jar hasn’t had a breakout game yet. He’s a Division I kid. A lot is expected of him. He hasn’t had that game yet,” Simpson said.
“He’s capable of getting 20-plus points on any given night. He’s healthy. He’s playing well. He’s shooting the ball well. But we have so many weapons,” he said.
Lima Senior will have eight days off before it plays again when it goes to Ottawa-Glandorf on Jan. 16.
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