Simsboro roars past Elizabeth

No. 9 Simsboro (24-12) put on a full display of athleticism and speed in a 76-51 win over No. 24 Elizabeth in the first round of the LHSAA playoffs Thursday night, cruising to the program's largest playoff win in three years.

Between 24 points from senior Itavus Brown and 17 points from sophomore Jakaleb Modest, the Tigers were able to put their foot down in a huge second quarter rally to lead 53-25 at halftime that sunk Elizabeth and let the clock begin to run in the early minutes of the third quarter.

"I'm speechless," Simsboro head coach Adam Wodach said. "You prepare, you work hard and you just never know what's going to come out. But holy smokes were we playng fast tonight. That was a lot of fun. I think we were incredibly unselfish and I'll look at it late but I'd love to know how many assists we had. Had to be double-digit assists as a team. Unselfish basketball. We're getting layups and we're playing fast. I thought we were ready to go. We had a look in our eyes and I hope they continue with that because that makes my job easier. That was an absolute blast."

Simsboro came out of the gates and led by two possessions within the first two minutes, getting an early three from Modest and fast-break points. Elizabeth punched back with a pair of three pointers to cut the deficit to within three with just under three minutes to go in the opening frame. But once Simsboro generated turnovers and got out in its fast-break attack and started to share the ball with precise movements, the lead ballooned to 21-12 by the end of the first.

That'd be the last time the game would be within single digits.

Over the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Tigers exploded on a 10-2 run, turning Elizabeth miscues into transition buckets on the other end and unselfish play near the rim to get open teammates involved. By the 2:51 mark of the frame, Simsboro held a 48-18 lead as Brown hit a pair of threes along in the quarter along with Modest and Justin Prudhome each hitting a triple to pad the run.

With the clock running and the game well within hand, Simsboro continued to lead by 20+ deep into the third, with Brown knocking down two more three-pointers to score eight of the team's 13 points in the third to push its lead to 66-40 entering the fourth.

After the 25-point victory, Wodach was asked if he sees this year's Simsboro squad capable of making a deep run and returning to Marsh Madness like the program has been used to over the last decade.

"I hope we've laid the ground work that that's possible," Wodach said. "That stuff just doesn't happen. Josh laid the foundation there and they won it the second year he was there. It starts in the summer and also is understanding what it means to be a part of tradition. It doesn't just happen. You make it happen. And a lot of times when you have tradition people think, 'Oh, it's just going to happen.' No. You gotta go take it and I thought we did that."

Simsboro will await the winner of No. 8 Singer and No. 25 Monterey for its second round matchup. If Singer wins, the Tigers will travel in the second round. If Monterey wins, Simsboro will host as the higher seed.