In the biggest game of the year, the Trevians left it all on the floor.
Down 9-0 to start the first two and a half minutes of the game, New Trier refused to be buried into a deficit by a team full of Division I recruits, including the #2 ranked Jabari Parker who has committed to Duke for next year.
The Trevians answered with a scoring barrage of their own, captivated by Stas Banas and Aaron Rosen both hitting 2 three pointers to cut the lead Simeon’s lead to 21-24 at the end of the 1st quarter.
During the second quarter, New Trier struggled on the offensive end.
Throughout the game, the Trevians found little success with dribble penetration against Simeon’s bigger and more athletic guards.
Yet despite a 7-point quarter where New Trier went scoreless for three and a half minutes, the Trevians were only down 28-36 at halftime.
Junior Jordan Thomas felt that the team did a fine job defensively, saying, “Our 1-3-1 worked well against them. They were forced to shoot a lot of outside shots, which was what we wanted.”
Parker, who scored 23 points and pulled down 9 rebounds, played all 32 minutes.
New Trier often moved the middle defender in the 1-3-1 to deny Parker post position, which resulted in Simeon working the perimeter. This took away Simeon’s advantage to drive the basketball and pound the inside with their size, and made them rely on their outside shooting.
In the third quarter, New Trier once again pulled in close. Aaron Angel’s lay-up brought the Trevians within 4 with 1:38 left. But for every time New Trier gained momentum, Simeon responded.
The Wolverines went on a little run with a basket by Simeon’s Kendall Pollard and a three by Kendrick Nunn to close out the period.
Most impressively, two Simeon defenders trapped Reid Berman as he dribbled out the third period clock without a shot attempt.
But the game was far from over, and neither the Trevians nor the crowd were ready to sit down just yet. Reid Berman, who had 10 points and 7 assists, banked in a three-pointer and did a shoulder shrug resembling Michael Jordan’s famous gesture.
The New Trier crowd, who was no doubt more loud and excited than Simeon’s fans throughout the game, roared.
On the next possession, Berman drew a foul going to the basket and knocked down one of his two free throws.
Only down 4 with 5:23 left, New Trier was poised to finally break it down to a one-possession game.
But it in the end it was not meant to be. Jabari Parker, who played an efficient game and had his clutch moments in the 4th quarter.
He hauled in an offensive rebound off of a Simeon missed free throw with (provide time), got fouled, and calmly sank two free throws to make it a 59-52 game.
Simeon’s defense held New Trier to two points in the final 2:26, as the Trevians could not hit any desperation shots. The Wolverines hit 7 of 9 free throws in the last 1:33 to down the Trevians 63-54.
All in all, Simeon put an end to New Trier’s season. But the legacy this team left behind will always be remembered, setting a single season record for victories at 26.
Steven Cook in particular played amazing throughout the playoffs, scoring 26 points against Schurz, 21 against Notre Dame, 30 versus Niles North, and then having a balanced game (14 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks) against Simeon.

Cook was happy with his team’s effort versus an elite team, saying “It was a great opportunity to take on a team like Simeon and a player like Jabari Parker, but we were not intimidated and expected to be able to play with them.
Throughout the game, we stayed aggressive on offense and defense. We gave them a huge scare in their playoff run, which they were not expecting at all.”
Coach Scott Fricke was also very pleased with how New Trier executed, saying “we played pretty close to perfect” in the toughest game of the season.
Fricke also commented that “it was an incredible season”, and the defining moment for him was when the Trevians went 4-1 in the Proviso West Tournament earlier in the year against steep competition.
Aaron Rosen, who provided a spark off the bench (9 points) in a shortened 7-man rotation for New Trier, said that the Simeon game was “one of the best times of my life, and the way we didn’t back down to our opponents shows how we had the mental toughness and perseverance of a great team.”
Simeon went on to win the state championship game 68-50 over Stevenson. No team had a smaller margin of loss against the Wolverines in the playoffs than New Trier.