Simeon coach Bob Hambric erupted Wednesday night, spewing forth accusations of racism while claiming his basketball program was “set up” at the Class AA sectional at St. Xavier University.
All this after Simeon came away with a 52-42 victory over Brother Rice that was a two-point game with 1 minute 5 seconds left.
Then came a Brandon Alexander free throw with teammate Anthony Newell battling ferociously to rebound the missed second attempt and then whipping a pass to Calvin Brock for a decisive dunk.
That sent No. 4 Simeon (24-4) onto Friday’s sectional title game against No. 11 Hyde Park (24-4).
“It was eight against five out there, and we still won,” Hambric said, referring to the three-man officiating crew. “We were set up to lose, and we beat the establishment.”
St. Xavier, the sectional host, is just a parking lot away from Brother Rice, and 95 percent of the more than 3,300 fans in the stands were Rice supporters–including the rowdy, orange-clad student section nicknamed the Crusader Crazies.
Brother Rice (26-2) was whistled for 17 fouls while Simeon had 12. Brother Rice fans quickly bought out its allotment of 1,500 tickets and went to Simeon and bought up that school’s unused tickets.
“That’s the most athletic team we’ve ever played,” said Rice coach Pat Richardson as the Crusaders got clobbered on the backboards 37-17–including 16 offensive rebounds for Simeon. “We were right there, and they get that rebound on the missed free throw. I can’t fault our guys. They have three 6-foot-6-inch guys (Brock, Newell, Brandon Alexander) who are athletic and quick leapers.”
Rice missed its first 14 shots of the game but recovered in time to only trail 18-15 at halftime. Crusaders standout Bobby Frasor only hit 2 of 14 shots, but finished with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Dave Telander had 15 points as Rice never had the lead.
Brock led Simeon with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Newell had 11 points and 10 boards, while Alexander had 10 points.
