SIMON SAYS
Ben helps Hightstown swipe a victory at Trenton
TRENTON » Ben Simon has been through the wars, so he was equipped to handle a final, frenzied 24.5 seconds.
With that much time on the clock, Simon hit both ends of a one-and-one to clinch a 60-57 victory for Hightstown’s boys’ basketball team over Trenton. But that was just the beginning. After a missed 3-point attempt by Trenton, Simon grabbed the rebound but promptly hoisted a fullcourt pass that became a turnover and gave Trenton possession with 12 seconds left. He who giveth, taketh away, however, as Simon then stole a pass to clinch it for the Rams with two seconds remaining.
“Yeah,” Simon said with a grin. “A lot going on.”
Simon proceeded to go through the process, starting with the clutch foul shots.
“You just gotta think of it as free throws in the backyard,” he said. “I’ve been shooting free throws against some crazy crowds for years now, so I’ve learned how to kind of tone it out.”
Then came the turnover. What happened?
“I don’t know,” Simon said. “You’re just kind of in the moment, trying to make a play for your team. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, but luckily we stayed composed when it mattered.”
Simon was the most composed, as his steal ended a hearty upset bid by improving Trenton (6-13).
“I knew we were up three, so a foul there didn’t kill us,” he said. “I just tried to play aggressive defense. I knew (Davonne Wells) wanted it, he was killing us all game so I was able to play good defense and get the result we wanted.”
It was a classic display of mental toughness by the senior point guard, who did not put his head down after the turnover.
“I’ve had experience of making the worst mistakes that you can make during my years already,” Simon said. “I knew there was more basketball to be played and I was able to use that to pull out a win.”
“That’s why, pound for pound he’s the best point guard I ever coached,” coach
Don DeLeo said. “He’s always looking for his teammates and he has the shortest memory when it comes to a turnover.”
It was another grind-it-out affair for the Rams (13-5) who trailed 29-19 in a second quarter that saw Wells and Doug Evans go off. Evans had all 10 of his points in the period while Wells tallied 11 of his career-high 25 during that time.
Hightstown chipped away and tied it at 52-52 and 54-54 early in the fourth quarter. Simon’s driving lay-up gave Hightstown the lead before Wells banged a 3-pointer to make it 57-56.
With 1:37 remaining, Kyle Reiss got the ball at the elbow, lost control as he looked to pass and then just drove hard to the hoop to convert the go-ahead lay-up with 1:37 remaining.
“Kyle, over the last four to five games has found his confidence attacking the rim, and that’s been a big help for us,” said DeLeo, whose team held Trenton to five fourth-quarter points.
Ryan Hogan led the Rams with 15 points while Reiss had 14 points and seven rebounds and Simon scored 10.
Simon and DeLeo both felt it was a good win against a team that plays tougher than its record shows.
“Trenton is always gonna play hard, they’re gonna play the most aggressive defense you’ve ever seen,” Simon said. “It’s terrible to play offense against them, it tires you out like crazy. They always show a great effort, they played a great game today.”
“A program as prestigious as Trenton Central in their new facility, you can never think you’re gonna come in here and it will be easy,” DeLeo said. “Hats off to coach (Darryl) Young. He has them playing hard and I love them for that.”