By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Marique Simkin sparked a decisive run midway through the first quarter and eventually recorded a triple-double as the Edison Tech Inventors held on for an 80-73 victory over the NE Douglass Panthers in RCAC action Thursday night at School No. 33.
Trailing by seven early, Simkin netted 10 of his game-high 30 points as Edison outscored the Panthers 25-4 to take a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter. The Inventors did not fall behind again.
“Guys are really sharing the ball right now,” Edison head coach Jacob Scott said. “We’re half way through the season. This is our 10th game. We’re really trying to glue in going down the stretch.”
Simkin drilled a 3-pointer then went end-to-end for a layup. He found teammate Jahrel Holt underneath for two, and Edison had its first lead of the night at 11-10.
“Marique is just a special kid,” Scott stated “The guy makes unorthodox layups. He gets to the basket. He has a will like no other. What’s special about him, though, it’s not just on offense. It’s defense. He plays even harder defensively than offensively. I don’t see that in most players these days.”
Chaz McKinney grabs the rebound and leads Marique Simkin for the layup. pic.twitter.com/bczWkvVdOt
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 13, 2017
Simkin used a hop step in the lane for two, and he converted on of two free throws to give Edison a 20-13 at the end of the first quarter.
With the senior guard having his way off the dribble, NE Douglass was forced to adjust. Amare Holland took advantage of the open space on the perimeter created by his teammate.
Simkin found Holland on the break for the first of his three triples on the night to give Edison its largest lead of the half at 27-13.
“Being able to kick it out for Amare today and have him knock down an open shot made a difference,” Scott explained. “He’s our best three-point shooter, but he didn’t have a good game last night or even the one before that.”
“A lot of credit goes to Edison,” said NE Douglass head coach Kyle Crandall. “That’s a good team. They were gutty and they got a lot of rebounds.”
Three times NE Douglass rallied to make it a game, three times Edison responded with Simkin leading the way.
Jiahmere Mitchell drained back-to-back three-pointers cutting the deficit to three late in the second quarter.
Simkin and Holland combined to give the Inventors at 37-27 advantage going into the locker room.
Marique Simkin uses the hezzi to get in the lane and score at the buzzer pic.twitter.com/gXgJFDJGOt
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 13, 2017
The Panthers cut the margin to one at 46-45 midway through the third when Daiquon Turner finished in the lane then converted a rebound, putback and one.
Edison pushed the lead back to double digits at at 60-46.
Torrence Phillips connected on consecutive attempts beyond the arc early in the fourth. The Panthers trailed 64-60 with 5:22 remaining. They did not get any closer.
“We couldn’t get over the hump,” Crandall commented. “We came out a little too flat at the beginning of the game. It was constantly trying to play catch up.
“They responded really well after we closed the gap. Lots of credit to them. They’re well-coached. They played a great game.”
Daiquon Turner gets position in the lane for two off the inbound. pic.twitter.com/Z2ayKFOD7y
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 13, 2017
As it was the case throughout the game, Simkin delivered with a layup. He fed Holland for three, and the Inventors pushed the advantage back to double digits.
“If you stay two steps off him, he’ll just pull up in your face,” Crandall noted. “He did that to us early, hit a couple shots early where we were about three to four feet behind him because we were trying to take away the penetration. When he hits 21, 22-foot jumpers, you have to get out on him a little bit. Then he just starts penetrating.”
For Crandall and NE Douglass it was more than just that.
“This is two games in a row where we’ve seen the other team’s top player score 30,” Crandall said referring to the Panthers 79-67 loss to East High on Tuesday. A game in which Zion Morrison poured in 30. “That’s something that we’re going to have to be looking at as a team. We’re just going to have to settle in and try to find a different strategy to try to stop other teams’ top players.”
For Scott and Edison it was a matter of putting behind them an 82-68 setback to Bishop Kearney the previous night.
“We needed that one,” Scott said of the win their third game in as many days. “We were trying to have a short-term memory especially after last night’s loss.I ’m really proud of my guys. They glued in. Yesterday, we didn’t have a good rebounding game. I was really on top of my fours, my fives about rebounding the ball and not giving second chances tonight. We played good defensively team ball. We didn’t give up second shots.”
Simkin finished with 10 rebounds and 10 assists to go with the 30 points.
“Keeping our composure and sticking to our defense was important,” Simkin said. “Our defense is one of the best things we got. We just keep playing hard, communicating and we all come together as a team.”
Holland had 27 and 14 rebounds.
Edison (7-3) plays Rush-Henrietta this Saturday.
Mitchell connected seven times behind the arc and scored 30 for NE Douglass (8-4). Turner added 23, and Phillips had 14. The Panthers will do battle with Brighton on Saturday.
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