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player ready...One victory wasn’t nearly as satisfying as two would have been for Morgan Park on Thursday.
Morgan Park won the battle to host Red South rival Simeon in its 270-person capacity home game, but it couldn’t also pull off the “Battle of Vincennes” as No. 3 Simeon knocked off the No. 1 Mustangs, 60-57.
“That was the most important part is letting the boys experience that home-court advantage,” said Tiffany Burrell, who along with other Morgan Park parents fought to get the game returned to the school after being originally scheduled at a larger neutral-court gym. “Yeah, we lost. It was a great game. We didn’t lose by much. We made some mistakes. But at the end, we still did what we sought out to do, and that was to play at home, and we accomplished that.”
Morgan Park presold tickets to the game earlier in the week, and a “Sold Out” sign hung outside the school’s entrance on Thursday. Some fans who already had tickets still waited nearly an hour in the cold to assure themselves a good seat when the doors opened at 4 p.m. At least one fan was turned away for having a counterfeit ticket.
From the opening tip to the buzzer, the standing-room-only crowd was into every basket, foul call and momentum swing.
Morgan Park star senior Charlie Moore didn’t have the game — 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting — or get the result he wanted, but he still appreciated the atmosphere. He had been waiting for a chance to play Simeon at Morgan Park since he was a freshman.
“It was pretty fun to have the crowd behind us,” Moore said. “It was our home court. It was pretty fun. … First time playing Simeon at home, everybody wanted to get the juices going, have a good game.”
Former NBA players Shawn Marion and Bobby Simmons were among the notable faces in the crowd.
“I get the jitters because I get flashbacks to when I used to play,” said Simmons, a 1998 Simeon graduate who starred at DePaul. “The fans, the kids, they come out to support and they really cheer for their team to win. If they make it or don’t make it [to the NBA], it’s something that’s going to be part of them for the rest of their lives. These are the memories they’re going to have.”
Morgan Park coach Nick Irvin was happy to be finally done with the game and all the controversy that surrounded its scheduling.
“I’m glad it’s over with actually,” Irvin said. “Now I can go back to being myself. The players can go back to being themselves. I didn’t care who won or lost. I just wanted to get it out of the way. There’s too much going on the last two weeks.”
Scott Powers is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.