Feb. 22--Simeon senior Zack Norvell had a simple yet effective talk with teammate Evan Gilyard at halftime of Sunday's Public League championship.
Gilyard, a junior point guard, had missed all three of his first-half shots and was scoreless against Kenwood.
"I just told him that it was going to be his half," Norvell said. "He wasn't assertive in the first half, so I knew he would break out after halftime."
With Simeon searching for its first city title since 2012, Gilyard put his team on his back, scoring the last basket of the third quarter and adding 14 fourth-quarter points to lead the No. 3 Wolverines to a 54-49 win against the No. 5 Broncos at Chicago State.
Behind a game-high 18 points from Norvell and Gilyard's late push, Simeon (24-3) defeated its third top-six team in three days.The Wolverines defeated No. 1 Morgan Park on Friday and No. 6 Evanston on Saturday for a weekend sweep.
"I wasn't scoring much or into my game early, but in my head, I had the mentality of keep playing hard and contributing," Gilyard said. "I knew I had to step up and make plays. We were tired, but we had the mentality to keep pushing."
With his teammates struggling with fatigue in the second half, the 5-foot-10 Gilyard scored nine straight Simeon points, including seven to start the fourth, and 14 of his team's next 16. During a critical three-possession stretch, Gilyard scored on a three-point play and added two free throws to hand the Wolverines a 50-45 lead with 1 minute, 22 seconds left.
After taking a 45-43 lead on a 3-pointer by Nick Robinson, the Broncos (19-4) missed four straight shots and five of their final six to miss a chance to win their first city title. Kenwood shot 33 percent (14-for-42) overall and scored four points in the second quarter. Zion Morgan led the Broncos with 15 points, and Robinson added 13 and eight rebounds.
The Wolverines overcame a 4-for-15 effort on 3-pointers by winning the rebounding battle 33-27 and earned their seventh city championship.
"We probably had some more talented teams," Simeon coach Robert Smith said, "but these guys got together down the stretch since we lost to Fenwick (on Jan. 18)."
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Player of the game: Zack Norvell, Simeon, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists.
Key performers: Kenwood -- Zion Morgan, 15 points, 4 rebounds; Nick Robinson, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks. Simeon -- Evan Gilyard, 16 points; Talen Horton-Tucker, 5 points, 7 rebounds.
