Simeon rallies past Mt. Carmel
By Drake Skleba
Trailing 26-22 after one half of play, Simeon rallied in the second half and cruised past Mt.Carmel 55-47 to win the Class 4A Lyons Sectional Friday.
With the win, Simeon (22-9) advances to meet Benet Academy (25-3) in the Hinsdale Central Class 4A Supersectional Tuesday. The Redwings hammered Glenbard East 68-54 to win the Neuqua Valley Sectional crown.
Simeon was led by its only senior starter, Brandon Spearman, who tallied 10 of his 14 points in the second half. Spearman added six rebounds and a pair of big fourth-quarter steals.
The Wolverines also receoved stellar performances from 6-foot-6 junior Rashawn McElrath (nine points, eight rebounds) and his classmate 6-foot-6 Ahman Fells.
Fells scored all of his points in the fourth quarter.
His bucket gave the Wolverines a 40-35 lead. After a Mt. Carmel free throw Fells struck agian for an old-fashiond three-point play to extend the Wolverine lead to seven at 43-36 midway through the final stanza.
"We put Ahman (Fells) in in the fourth quarter and he made a couple of huge plays for us to get us this win," said Simeon head coach Robert Smith.
"We were a little nervous to start. We really picked it up on defense and on the glass in the second half. We really want to get downstate. We will be ready to play Tuesday."
Mt. Carmel (26-5) was led by junior guard Tracy Abrams,who scored 11 points, hauled in seven rebounds and had three steals. Junior Adonis Filer (10 points, three rebounds) and senior Jon Gac (nine points) provided additional offensive punch for the Caravan.
