Bitter enemies are often the closest of friends in Chicago’s best basketball rivalry.
Not only do Morgan Park and Simeon players spend the spring and summer traveling the country as teammates, one of their AAU coaches, Nick Irvin, is the Morgan Park coach.
Morgan Park’s Ayo Dosunmu and Simeon’s Kezo Brown have alternately been teammates and opponents since they were in grammar school.
Brown came into high school with the bigger reputation, fell into obscurity while Dosumnu became a national recruit, then had his shining moment on Public League basketball’s biggest stage.
The re-emergent junior scored a game-high 26 points and forced Dosunmu into air ball on a potential game-winning 3-pointer as No. 5 Simeon outlasted No. 4 Morgan Park 68-64 in a city championship game that exceeded its hype Sunday night at Chicago State.
"The fans got exactly what they wanted," said Simeon coach Robert Smith, whose team repeated as champion and won for the eighth time overall.
"We made plays, they made plays. A freshman (Morgan Park’s Nimari Burnett) making big 3 down there when we were up three. It was unbelievable. Nick does a great job with these guys. He motivates me to do this every day because I know he’s going to put pressure on me to try to win all the time."
The lead changed hands seven times in a frantic fourth quarter that saw virtually everyone on the floor deliver a key play.
Ultimately, though, it was Brown’s night.
After flashing tremendous promise as a freshman, the 6-foot-1 guard struggled on and off the court last season, never recovering from a health issue that sidelined him the summer before his sophomore year.
Brown has been a vital cog for Simeon all season, and he has been at his best of late. He was 8 of 14 from the field and 3 of 5 from the 3-point line, and when the game was on the line, he was defending Morgan Park’s biggest threat.
"It just feel lovely to have all the people behind me," Brown said. "I went through a lot last year. That is over with. I just want to keep working hard on every bit of my game.
"It was tough. Everybody just goes at each other. Me and Ayo, we’re personal, we play with each other, we know each other’s game. That’s just how it is. I just wanted to guard the man who had the ball. I knew it was going to be him. I knew he was going to shoot the 3."
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Player of the game: Kezo Brown, Simeon, 26 points.
Key performers: Simeon: Evan Gilyard, 18 points, 9-9 FTs; Talen Horton-Tucker, 13 points, 11 rebounds. Morgan Park: Ayo Dosunmu, 16 points, 5 assists; Melo Burrell, 15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocked shots.
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