Simmons’ double-double, defense guide Classical

HARTFORD – When everything is clicking for Classical, like it was in the first quarter of Monday’s game against Suffield, it’s going to be hard to stop the Gladiators.

The Gladiators (7-0) had five steals in the opening quarter, with senior Robert Simmons the statistical beneficiary of Classical’s aggressive half-court press as he stole the ball three times and scored 10 points in the first period alone, leading the Gladiators to a 66-37 win.

“I don’t think we can be beat if we really dig down,” Simmons said.

No one has. The Gladiators have torn through the NCC. The Wildcats (4-5) struggled to establish an offense from the jump, as the Classical guards pestered ballhandlers, forced them into mistakes and poked and prodded away at the ball with each step they took, often leading to turnovers or breakaway steals.

Classical coach Reggie Tucker laid it out to his players simply: D = PT.

Defense equals playing time.

“This team is the first team in probably five or six years that really wants to play defense,” he said. “It’s hard to get kids to play this hard on the defensive end. Everybody wants to get their name in the paper. But if we play defense and make the offense uncomfortable, we can do some things.”

Simmons finished with six steals and sparked the offense with 28 points, and pulled down12 rebounds as well.

He scored nine points in the fourth quarter, helping the Gladiators turn a 14point lead coming into the quarter, into a 29-point final margin.

It was the fourth straight game in which he scored over 20.

“In my opinion, he’s one of the better players in the state,” Tucker said. “He fancies himself as a point guard. For the last few years, he played point. Now we have him at the forward position, where he can score a little bit more.”