By T. Scott Boatright
SIMSBORO — Like a racecar exploding out of the pole position, the Simsboro High School Tigers roared off to a strong start and never looked back Tuesday night as they rocketed their way to a 85-69 win over Quitman in District 1-B action inside the SHS Gym.
After the Wolverines struck first with a 3-pointer 27 seconds into the contest, Simsboro (14-8, 4-0) countered with a 12-0 run on layup from Jakeleb Modest and Ahmad Smith followed by an old-fashioned three-point play on a jumper by Trumarion “Man-Man” Smith, who added a free throw after drawing a foul before Ahmad Smith added a long 3-pointer and Justin Prudhomme took it to the basket for a layup that put the Tigers on top 12-3 at the 5:44 mark of the opening stanza.
Quitman (19-4, 2-1) cut Simsboro’s lead to 12-8 with 4:31 left in the first quarter before the Tigers went on a 14-0 run to build a 26-8 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Simsboro coach Adam Wodach said the relentless pace his Tigers played with from start to finish had nothing to do with coaching.
“All that credit goes to our team and the fact they’ve bought into what we’re trying to build here with a mindset of 32 minutes,” Wodach said.
The Tigers didn’t slow down in the second quarter as they stretched their lead to 28 points at 49-21 at intermission.
Quitman maintained pace in the third quarter with Simsboro only adding one point to their lead at 69-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines started hitting more shots as the game wound down, but Simsboro had long raced away the win that ended up being by a 25-point margin.
Modest led the Tigers with 24 points with 12 of those coming on four 3-pointers while Ahmad Smith added 16 and Jalen Outley chipped in with 15 for SHS.
It takes a strong driver to handle a racecar, and it was the senior “Man-Man,” who has returned to Simsboro this year after playing for Lincoln Prep in 2023-24, that did the quarterbacking for the Tigers by pouring in 18 points of his own while creating shots for this teammates and dishing off numerous assists on the night.
Wodach gave his senior a high-five handshake when he pulled Man-Man to bench with a little more than three minutes remaining before having to send him back on the court a little later to run Simsboro’s offense again while he did a little coaching with a reserve player that had replaced Man-Man.
“I just told him I was proud of him,” Wodach said of what he told Man-Man during that high five. “It’s hard to be gone for so long and realize you just miss it. I think he’s done a tremendous job of working his way back. He’s a great player and provides some great leadership quarterbacking things out there. Our whole team has great players. We’re full of them and you saw that tonight.
“A true point guard is so valuable, but at the same time you’ve got to have everybody running his stuff. I’m just proud of him for being an assist guy and making his teammates better. And credit his teammates for knocking down shots the way they did tonight.”
Man-Man said he has only one goal after returning to Simsboro.
“I feel a state championship on the way,” Man-Man said. “It feels great being back and getting everybody rolling like we were tonight.”
Wodach said he realized how much his team is growing and maturing when he walked into the locker room after the game.
“I walked in, and they weren’t happy,” Wodach said. “That was because they felt like they didn’t finish the game and let Quitman cut down the lead some late in the game. I think that’s a tribute to them. How did we get to his point? I think that’s because our expectations have become significantly higher.
“After I went into the locker room, I was trying to get them excited, and they were still locked in on letting Quitman cut into the lead. It’s rewarding to see that, but they also have to remember to enjoy it, too. Quitman is No. 3 in the state, and we almost 30-balled them.” Simsboro moved to 14-8 overall and 4-0 in District 1-B with the win while Quitman fell to 19-4 and 2-1.
Next up for the Tigers will be another district contest at Weston (7-18, 0-3) on Friday.
