January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Simons: None of us like losing
Undefeated Wildcats already dreaming of doing it again
Simons: None of us like losing
Simons' game-high 22 points lifted the unbeaten Wildcats to a 80-66 win over St. George's International at CedarBridge Academy last weekend.
Yet, rather than bask in personal glory, Simons credited his teammates for the manner in which they stuck to their task against St. George's - particularly in the first half which saw the Wildcats fall behind early.
"You never go into a game like that expecting to be MVP. I played hard but relied a lot on my teammates who carried me through in the first half," he said.
"When the time arose I picked my spots to score and played my game basically. And it just so happened that I ended up as MVP. But realistically it could have gone to any of my teammates. That was definitely the best game we have played as a team."
The Wildcats' comfortable win over St. George's enshrined them in local basketball immortality as the first ball club to go through a season unbeaten (14-0).
"We pride ourselves on our game and one of our goals was to go undefeated - and we achieved that," Simons added. "Obviously that took us to the final and to the championship and so it was a great season.
"We have had the same team for a few years now, we have played together for a long time and so our expectations are always high."
Simons already has great expectations for next season.
"Our goal is to again go undefeated. None of us like losing so we are going to come out with the same goal next year," he declared. "We are going to keep the team together with the same coach and same game plan - take one game at a time."
Reflecting upon his team's recent conquest of St. George's, Simons said: "The first couple of minutes I think nerves played a part. We had a game plan to hold them under 30 each half and in the first five minutes they kept it tight. But our intense defence eventually took over and we were able to push our lead up to 15 at the half - which kind of told the story."
As fate would have it, Simons was in possession of the ball as the clock wound down to end the game. "Those last few seconds felt nice," he said, with a grin. "I had the ball in my hands just watching the clock tick down and it just felt great!
That the Wildcats completed the season unbeaten owed no small part to towering forward Ryan Robain who, like Simons, attributes "team harmony" as the key to their success.
"We just played as a team. When one person struggled the other person came strong. We just played as a team and our coach. Roderick Spencer. came with good game plans each game."
League MVP Robain left no stone unturned in pursuit of excellence off the court this season.
Evidently, it was time well spent.
"I worked very hard," he said. "I ran a lot all season and also did a lot of work in the gym."[[In-content Ad]]
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