Defending Class 1A state champ East Marion was bounced in the first round of the 2A playoffs Tuesday night, ending an odd season in its return to a higher classification.
The Eagles (7-19) fell to Philadelphia 72-61 after being tied 39-39 at the half but lacked the firepower to keep up with the Tornadoes.
“We just weren’t good enough for four quarters,” head coach Calvin Brown said. “We played a great first half and were in sync, connected to each other. When the game slowed down a little bit, we struggled to score. More than anything, stops and rebounds — 71 (points) were too many to beat them — to beat them on their floor I felt like we needed to make one or two more plays offensively and score 65 and hold them to 63 or less. Defensively we let them score too consistently and just didn’t get it done.”
It’s been a peculiar transition year for the Eagles, who lost some key pieces from their championship run while moving back up to 2A. The biggest blow was losing Vashon Sims, an ultra-talented 6-foot-4 shooting guard with several Division I offers, to injury after he was in a car accident during the summer. He’s expected to return for his senior season next year and rejoin Caleb Rawls, Cameron Walker, Carlos Stubbs and Deuce Johnson in the lineup. However, Brown is taking a cautious approach and waiting to get the green light from medical personnel.
“I want to hear it from the doctor and his mom before it’s confirmed (that Sims will return), but obviously that would be a great addition and a miracle for our entire school. That was a day or two before school started,” he said. “Going into his senior year for him to be cleared to play, it would be just as inspiring as it was devastating when it happened.”
As a sophomore on the championship team, Sims averaged 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and making 29 3-pointers. While the only flashy in that line may be the nearly three steals per game, Sims’ all-around skillset combined with his ability to space the floor both with his shooting and above-the-rim prowess would completely change the outlook of the Eagles next year.
Brown said that while the growth shown by Walker, Stubbs and Johnson is promising, it remains to be seen if the Eagles can compete statewide in 2A. He said in 1A there were some gaps where the competition was weak, but the top teams were as competitive as 2A and possibly even 3A. In 2A there are more competent teams, and the road to get deep in the playoffs is much more difficult.
The only Eagle graduating is point guard Devin Daniels, who started on the championship team, too, and there is no clear replacement for his spot waiting in the wings. Brown said the Eagles will have to wait and see if a point guard emerges from the younger group, but with positionless basketball becoming more and more prevalent it may not matter all that much.
Sims, Walker and even Rawls are capable of handling the ball even if they don’t fit the prototypical mold of a point guard.
Pictured Above: East Marion's Cameron Walker soars for a layup. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
