Carver Military Academy

State championships, city titles and national rankings don’t mean a whole lot when you travel to Altgeld Gardens. Carver wasn’t intimidated or impressed by top-ranked Simeon, but the host Challengers gutsy upset bid fell a bit short in the end, as the Wolverines held on for a 52-47 Red-South win on Thursday.

“Whenever you come to Carver this is what you expect,” Simeon coach Robert Smith said. “This is the type of game we needed. We had to make plays down the stretch.”

Simeon guard Terell Green probably made the biggest play. His three with 4:54 to play gave Simeon the lead back for good at 42-41.

“That was a big basket,” Smith said. “That’s a senior coming up big down the stretch.”

Carver cut the lead to two on a three from Devante Wilkins with 29 seconds to play, but Simeon shot 3 of 4 from the line to seal the win.

Jabari Parker led the Wolverines (15-0, 6-0) with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Kendrick Nunn, who made several critical plays in the fourth quarter, finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Steve Walker added 10 points and four rebounds.

Deshawn Delaney led the Challengers (16-5, 5-2) with 17 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and four blocks. But he shot only 8-for-16 from the line.

“Free throws cost us the game,” Carver coach Johnnail Evans said. “Simeon didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves.”

Simeon was without 6-6 senior Ahman Fells, a UIC recruit. Fells, who is suffering from an Achilles' injury, will likely miss the Morgan Park game on Saturday as well.

Without Fells, Simeon’s rebounding effort suffered. Carver outrebounded the Wolverines 30-29.

“We missed him,” Smith said. “But this is the sign of champions, when you can fight through games like this.”

Devante Wilkins scored nine and grabbed four rebounds for Carver. Michael Howell added eight points off the bench.

“I told the kids to hold their heads up,” Evans said. “They learned today that they can play with anyone.”