Beating Toledo St. John’s is never easy. But Lima Senior’s 52-44 win over the Titans in boys basketball on Friday night was tougher than most.
The Spartans were behind almost all of the game until they finally went up with less than three minutes to play. Their leading scorer, Xavier Simpson, a 55-percent shooter for the season, suffered through a 5-for-23 shooting night. And their No. 2 scorer, Marquavious Wilson, was suspended for the game.
But No. 2-ranked Lima Senior (12-0, 7-0 Three Rivers Athletic Conference) came through all that and came from behind to beat St. John’s for the second time this season.
Friday night’s win at home puts Lima Senior two games up on the Titans (10-4, 7-2 TRAC) in the league standings. St. John’s losses have come against four undefeated teams – Lima Senior twice, Lima Central Catholic and Detroit Jesuit.
Simpson led Lima Senior with 18 points and Jarius Ward scored 16. Gabe Kynard’s 13 points led St. John’s.
“Guys made plays. Playmakers make plays,” Lima Senior coach Quincey Simpson said. “Our two goals were to beat them at the glass and get stops when needed. And I thought in the second half we did those two things.”
Lima Senior’s comeback wasn’t quite as big as when it came from 17 points down in the final 12 minute to win 67-66 at St. John’s in its season opener. It was more of a prolonged struggle.
St. John’s took the lead at 26-24 in the final minute of the first half on a tip-in by Dallas Gant and Lima Senior was playing from behind until two free throws by Simpson tied it with 3:26 to play in the game. Rico Stafford’s fast-break lay-up gave the Spartans the lead for good at 44-42 on their next possession.
Ruben Flowers scored on an offensive rebound for a 46-42 lead with 1:50 to play, then took a charge on St. John’s following possession on what Quincey Simpson called “the play of the game.”
“Most people probably won’t talk about that play, but in my eyes that was the play that changed the dynamics of this game,” he said. “Ruben is our toughest player.”
“We wanted to be two games ahead of these guys. Obviously, it’s not over. There are some tough games ahead. But being ahead of these guys is big for us. It puts us in the driver’s seat. We control our own destiny now.”
Flowers said, “People just had to step up. Jar (Ward) did a good job stepping up and Jay Thomas did a good job stepping up. Demontay (Liles) came in and gave us some good minutes, Keaton Upshaw gave us some good minutes. I think it was just a collective team effort. It wasn’t just one player, it was the whole team as a unit.”
Ward said, “I knew were weren’t going to have our second-best scorer. I knew I was going to have to be aggressive and step up and play a bigger role. We came in and got the job done.”
Ward was 7 of 10 on field goal attempts, mixing drives into the lane and to the hoop with long-range shooting. He scored 10 of his points, including two 3-pointers, in the first half.
In the early going, Lima Senior’s defensive pressure didn’t seem to faze the Titans, whose only turnovers in the first quarter were two offensive fouls. But by the end of the game, Lima Senior had forced 21 turnovers.
The Spartans shot 41 percent on field goals (20 of 49). St. John’s also hit 41 percent of its shots (17 of 41).
Lima Senior’s 52 points was a season low and was the fewest points it had scored since it got 67 in its opener against St. John’s.
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