The disappointment was evident in the faces of the Bedford players following the Northeast 5 District championship game against Lakewood St. Edward as they waited to receive their runner-up trophy and medals Saturday night. They had just been beaten 66-52 by the Eagles (15-3) at the St. Edward’s gym, and it was obviously not how the Bearcats players nor their fans wanted this special season to end.
For Bedford, this was only their second loss in 12 games. During the regular season, they had won the Lake Erie Conference Championship after beating teams in their conference like Lorain and Cleveland Heights. (Those two teams also bowed out in their district final games; Lorain lost 56-52 to St. Ignatius while Cleveland Heights lost 54-53 to Medina according to the OHSAA website.)
The Bearcats got behind early in their finals game, and were never quite able to get back on track. The Eagles pressed Bedford immediately, and the Bearcats had struggles handling the intensity. This led to a few easy baskets by St. Edwards, and a 19-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
What was even more distressing than the score was that senior Malik Simmons, who had a mammoth 22-point game against Brunswick the game before, picked up his second foul with 4:06 left in the first quarter, and his third foul with 3:15 left in the second quarter. Bedford head coach Pete Priola, in turn, had to keep Simmons on the bench for part of the game to protect him from getting more fouls.
At 6’4″, 218 pounds, Simmons has used his physicality and body control to dominate inside again smaller opponents. The officials in Bedford’s first two tournament games seem to let the teams play a more physical-style game, but that didn’t happen during this contest. As a result, Simmons finished the game with zero points on 0-2 shooting, with 4 rebounds and 4 fouls according to MaxPreps.com. He still managed 3 assists and 4 steals, but his effectiveness was obviously limited. (For the record, Simmons had only 2 fouls in each of the first two tournament games according to the website.)
Other players tried to pick up the slack, including senior Chaze Harris, who scored 14 points in the first half on his way to a 30-point game. Still, with Simmons on the bench, and the Eagles hitting many of their open shots, Bedford found themselves down by 20 points, 44-24 at halftime.
To the Bearcats’ credit, the team never gave up. As the Eagles began to take the air out of the ball in the second half with a motion offense, the Bearcats continued to fight, getting a number of steals for some fast break opportunities. One memorable one was a beautiful dunk by Harris, that momentarily got the stands rocking for Bedford.
Junior Raymell Hester added 8 points for the game, and junior Jaylon Clark had 9 points, but St. Edward’s proved to be just too much to handle for the Bearcats on the evening.
St. Edward now moves on the Regionals to face rival St. Ignatius (18-6). The teams split a pair of games this season during conference play.
In the meantime, the Bearcats will still have a special season to remember. The COVID-shortened season started on January 15 for Bedford, only 10 days after they were able to start practicing. This was according to a Feb. 3 story on Cleveland.com called “Bedford coming of age without the comforts of home,” in the Boys Basketball Rewind column. The story went on to talk about the obstacles the team not only had overcome this season, but also for the past few years.
According to the story, seniors Chaze Harris, Trey Miller and Malik Simmons, have been on the varsity team for four years, and lived through through a winless season earlier in their careers. Fast-forward now to their senior year, and they, and their teammates, have put Bedford back in the mix as one of the finer teams in Northeast Ohio. Along with those three, other seniors also played their final game in a Bearcats jersey Saturday night. They are Errone McCrimon, Marshawn Fields, Tyler Craft and Malcolm Sims, Jr.
Despite exiting earlier than they wanted, the group played some important and memorable games during their 2020-2021 season.
Editor’s note: The story above was written to give the facts of the game from a mostly objective point of view. The next comments will be the opinion of the writer (who wanted the Bearcats to win.)
*This is not to take anything away from St. Edward, since they are a very good team, but as a former high school player, I think it has to be very difficult for a visiting team to play in the Eagles’ gym. Now, St. Edward was able to host the district tournament championship game since they were a 1st seed compared to Bedford at a 6th seed, so that is acceptable practice. Still, while the floor is regulation size, the rest of the dimensions of the room are very small, with the bleachers only going back maybe 10 rows before you get to the top. On top of that the lighting is dim, which might not be helped by the number of very large championship banners hanging from all over the ceiling. It is a jarring and somewhat claustrophobic, uncomfortable environment. Even with social distancing the place felt mostly full. If St. Edward gained any advantage from the somewhat awkward surroundings, then that is their prerogative. That is what home-court advantage is about. I just want the reader to understand the extra element with which the Bearcats had to deal.
*And finally, I want to highlight the performance of Chaze Harris during the game. As some of you may know, Harris hit the 1,000-point mark earlier in the season, so, it is not a surprise that he is a scorer. Still, to drop 30 points in a district championship game is an impressive feat. And it is not just that he scored, it was how he scored. While the team struggle to put up points, he created many of his shots by driving through heavy traffic and finishing at the rim with defenders on him. For a high-schooler to have the touch and body control that he has is unusual, and fun to watch. At times, I just had to sit back and watch with admiration. I wish him and all the seniors the best.
