Boys Basketball: Veteran Beechcroft Cougars crave memorable finish
Throughout each of the past three seasons, the Beechcroft boys basketball team had plenty of reasons to celebrate.
It was the endings that left the Cougars unsatisfied.
After earning a share of the City League-North Division title in 2019, Beechcroft settled for a runner-up finish in the league the next year but beat Eastmoor Academy 39-36 in a Division II district championship game.
The remainder of that postseason, however, was canceled before the Cougars could compete at the regional because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then last winter, Beechcroft beat Walnut Ridge 64-62 in the City title game and received the No. 3 seed for the district tournament but lost 43-39 to Watterson in two overtimes in a district semifinal to finish 11-1.
“They’re hungry,” coach Humphrey Simmons said. “They have a mission. Everybody on this team just wants it bad.”
The Cougars, ranked 11th in the Division II state poll released Jan. 17, were 10-2 overall and 8-0 in the City-North after beating East 76-43 on Jan. 18.
All of the remaining games on their regular-season schedule are against City-North teams as look to advance to the City final Feb. 12.
Beechcroft had regular-season games against Buckeye Valley (Dec. 22) and Chillicothe (Dec. 29) canceled because of COVID-19 protocols.
“We’re playing together and our team chemistry is great right now,” said senior Amani Lyles, who averages a team-best 19.0 points. “We’ve got our defensive rotations down and we’ve just got to stay strong with the ball. A lot of the teams are coming for us, so we’ve got to hold our ground.
“We’ve been getting back in the gym with the guys and doing the team bonding activities that we do. We’re hungry.”
According to Lyles, his biggest individual improvements have come in the areas of “patience and pace.”
A 6-foot-7 forward who has been offered by Cleveland State, Lyles is part of a six-player senior class that also features Simmons’ son, guard J.J. Simmons, and post player Antwoin Reed.
The 5-10 J.J. Simmons, who averages 17.0 points, has been a key player since his freshman season and surpassed the 1,000-point mark in early December.
Reed adds 13.5 points per game.
The other seniors are guards Javo Jordan, Jamari Strickland and Anthony Watkins, while junior Jayden Douglas and sophomores Aurelius Scott and Dominique Wise are contributing at guard and on the wing.
Beechcroft scored at least 81 points in six of its first seven games.
“We’re scoring a lot of points,” coach Simmons said. ”From freshman year on, (J.J. has) been ready for this stage, averaging 13 (points) as a freshman, then averaging 17 as a sophomore and then 20 as a junior. He’s been waiting for it. His brother (2018 graduate Jelani Simmons) set a big foundation, so he wanted to fill those shoes.
“We have six seniors, and Amani and Antwoin have been playing great basketball. Their chemistry is just clicking. I love what I’m seeing out of Antwoin this year. He’s giving us a lot in a starting role.”
Beechcroft lost 63-46 to Hilliard Bradley on Jan. 8 in The Challenge at Africentric as Lyles scored 16 and Reed had 15, but the Cougars bounced back with a 64-58 victory over Northland on Jan. 11 as Lyles had 19 and Reed scored 18.
“As far as being inconsistent, we’ll get it going and then it’ll slow down,” coach Simmons said. “The only thing I just don’t like is that we really haven’t had a full good week of basketball. We’ve got a busy schedule.”
julrey@thisweeknews.com
@UlreyThisWeek
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Basketball: Beechcroft Cougars crave memorable finish
