Basketball Recap: Simeon Comes Up Short

Simeon lost against Phillips back in December of 2023 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Wednesday. The Simeon Wolverines lost 59-37 to the Phillips Wildcats. While losing is never fun, the Wolverines can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 234th, while the Wildcats are ranked 55th).

Despite the loss, Simeon still got an impressive performance from Dijiona Berrien, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 13 rebounds. That was a full 56.8% of Simeon's points, marking the third time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. Gabby Howard was another key player, putting up five points.

Nila Willis went supernova for Phillips, almost dropping a triple-double on 17 points, nine boards, and ten blocks. Those ten blocks gave Willis a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Kamaria Sephus, who went 5 of 8 on her way to 15 points.

Simeon's defeat dropped their record down to 11-13. As for Phillips, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 18-8.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Simeon has already played their next match (against Payton College Prep), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Phillips will challenge Amundsen at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Phillips is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.5 points per game this season.