Boys basketball: Lucas Simpson’s 40 points lift Newman over Morrison

STERLING – Saturday, in Newman’s final game of the Cliff Warkins Memorial Tournament at Erie, senior forward Lucas Simpson set the single-game school record for points with 45 in a win over Orion.

On Wednesday, in the Comets’ next game, Simpson went for 40 points in a 66-56 win over Morrison at home.

[ Photos: Newman vs Morrison basketball ]

To his Newman teammates, that type of scoring effort comes as no surprise.

“Lucas plays a major key role in our whole team, and 40 points, that’s kind of just an OK game for Lucas,” Newman sophomore guard Evan Bushman said. “Anything above 30 is pretty good for him, but that’s like what he averages, and he really helps out the team a lot.”

Simpson’s spectacular night began with a 13-4 run through the first 4:46 of the game.

A layup in the first 28 seconds ignited the 13-point outburst. With 5:46 remaining, Simpson hit a left-corner 3, and over the next minute, he dropped in back-to-back putbacks for a 9-2 lead.

After Morrison junior Colton Bielema grabbed a steal and assisted senior DaeShaun McQueen on the fast break, Simpson nabbed two steals of his own 14 seconds apart on the next two possessions.

He finished the first fast break with a one-handed dunk and opted for a layup on the second, stretching the lead to 13-4.

Layups by Morrison seniors Chase Newman and Carson Strating in the last 2:08 cut the deficit to 13-8 at the end of the first quarter.

“I felt like we sped them up and got them out of their rhythm, and it kept us in our own rhythm, so they weren’t able to stay with our rhythm and keep going fast,” Simpson said. “And we just slowed it down when we needed to, and they were never able to get too close to us in points.”

A Chase Newman layup drew Morrison (3-11) within 13-10 in the first minute of the second quarter, but that’s as much ground as the Comets (11-7) would give up.

Bushman hit the first of four 3-pointers to stretch a six-point lead, and Simpson finished two layups around a left-corner 3 by Morrison’s Asher Ernst for a seven-point advantage midway through the second quarter.

Chase Newman made a buzzer-beater layup to cut it to 25-20 at halftime. The Comets grabbed 11 steals in the first half and consistently capitalized with fast break points.

“We knew they had a big [6-foot-9 senior Brenden Martin] that they could just lob it over us,” Simpson said. “If we got steals and helped with our weak side, getting in and getting that lob to the big, we’d get a lot more steals and get our fast break points, which is where most of our points came from.”

Morrison rallied to within three points twice in the third quarter – 25-22 on Martin’s putback, then 27-24 on a layup by senior Cooper Bush – but Newman refused to back down.

Bushman hit the first of three third-quarter 3s at the six-minute mark for a 30-24 lead, then hit from deep for a seven-point lead 45 seconds later. With 3:23 remaining, he hit again from the right corner off a dribble and sidestep for a 39-30 lead.

“Those 3s are important. I hit a couple, and once you hit one, you build confidence,” Bushman said. “You start to get into a rhythm, and I think everybody was starting to do that. The whole team started to feel more confident when we started knocking shots down, so I think that’s what helped build our lead.”

Simpson made three layups in the final two minutes to make it 48-38 Comets after three quarters.

Morrison rallied late, pulling within 62-56 with 1:09 remaining on a Strating left-wing 3, but Simpson answered with two layups in the final minute, sealing the win.

“Second half, we always come out, we settle down a little bit. First half’s always fast paced, we’re all out of order, and we just turned the ball over a lot, in the first quarter especially,” Chase Newman said. [The difference was] not getting on the shooters and turning the ball over. They’re not missing 3s, we’ve got to get out and do better.”

Simpson finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and five steals; Bushman scored 12 points on four 3s and dished three assists; sophomore Garret Matznick scored six points and dished three assists; and senior Isaiah Williams added three points and four steals for the Comets.

Martin paced the Mustangs with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals; Chase Newman supplied 14 points, five rebounds and five assists; Strating totaled nine points and three assists; and Ernst added six points and two rebounds.