OBAMA CHALLENGES ALLDERDICE’S REIGN
Devas Simmons is in his seventh year as Obama’s boys basketball coach, and one thing has held true at the end of each of his first six seasons — Allderdice hoisting the City League championship trophy at the end of the year.
For the first time in three years and the fourth time overall, Simmons and his team will have an opportunity to write a new script when the No. 2 Eagles (13-8) take on the No. 1 Dragons (18-5) in the City League championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
“This is something we talked about all summer, so we planned for it throughout the entire year. It’s something we expected,” Simmons said. “Our kids really worked hard throughout the offseason and worked hard during the season. They just kept believing in one another and kept trusting one another.
“As they grew closer and closer, we started playing better and better throughout the year.”
After a pair of one-sided losses against Allderdice in the 2015 and 2016 championship games, Obama gave the Dragons all they could handle in a triple-overtime classic in the 2017 title game, but Allderdice came out on top, 71-70, to claim its fourth consecutive championship.
It has taken Simmons’ group three years to get back since then, but based on the way the Eagles have played this year, this could be their best chance yet to knock the Dragons off their perch. Simmons stopped short of guaranteeing a victory, but he’s surely not lacking in confidence.
“Will it be a tough game? I expect that. Do I expect us to win? Absolutely,” Simmons said. “My kids never go into a game thinking we’re going to lose.”
Obama started the season 0-4, including road losses to defending WPIAL champions Mt. Lebanon and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The Eagles never wavered, though, bouncing back with a six-game winning streak before a 54-48 home loss to Allderdice in the teams’ only meeting this season.
The teams were scheduled for a rematch in Obama’s regular-season finale Feb. 6, but the Eagles had to forfeit because of an incident between fans at their previous game against Brashear.
“You’re looking at a sixtime champion,” Simmons said. “It’s like they’re the Patriots. We’re trying to beat the Patriots. They’ve won six times in a row. So we’ve just got to do what we can do to get a victory.”
Girls championship
Allderdice’s girls basketball team has made it to four consecutive City League championship games and won the past two, but this could be the Dragons’ most formidable lineup yet.
With multiple 1,000-point scorers and three returning All-City selections in senior guards Emma Waite, Sophia North and Brooklyn Jones, Allderdice is a heavy favorite to win its third title in a row at noon Saturday against Westinghouse (15-5). The Dragons (21-2) won both matchups earlier this season by similar scores of 75-58 and 74-55.
The Bulldogs advanced to the title game with a 41-30 win against Obama, and they certainly have the potential to make things interesting. But if Allderdice can match its offensive output from its 85-14 semifinal win against Carrick, the Dragons will be tough to defeat.