MARIETTA — For the roughly two quarters-plus that D’Marcus Simonds was able to stay on the floor, there was little doubt the Gainesville senior was the best player on the floor Monday.
The other quarter and a half, however, Wheeler showed off the deeper team and was able to use its experience in high-pressure games to eventually pull away for an 82-69 win over the Red Elephants at the Wheeler gym in a matchup of top five teams in their respective classifications.
Gainesville (11-4) came in ranked fourth in Class AAAAA while the Class AAAAAA defending state champion Wildcats (14-5) were ranked third in Class AAAAAA. Neither team had lost to a team from Georgia coming into the MLK Day showdown.
Gainesville coach Benjie Wood, who is trying to push his program to the elite status in the state, said knowing how to respond in hostile environments is a key to making that final leap.
“You have to be in these type of environments to learn how to stay poised,” Wood said. “When we were poised, we were winning the game. When we weren’t, they were able to pull away from us.
“We have to learn how to execute better in big situations. But I was real proud of how we didn’t quit. They gave a great effort.”
With Simonds on the floor, Gainesville led the entire first quarter. But he picked up his third foul early in the second quarter and the Wildcats turned a 19-18 deficit into a 34-21 lead midway through the second quarter. When he returned late in the second quarter, the Red Elephants moved to within 40-36 on a Tae Turner 3-pointer off a Simonds assist.
Wheeler got a huge 3-pointer from Darius Perry at the buzzer for a 43-36 halftime lead and Perry sparked a quick 4-0 run to start the third quarter to push the Wildcats lead to 47-36 less than a minute into the third quarter.
Simonds returned and capped an 8-0 run with a steal and dunk and then a layup off a Turner steal and assist to cut the lead to 47-44. But he picked up his fourth foul with 5:11 left in the third quarter and Wheeler was able to take advantage again running out to a 60-49 lead over a four-minute span.
Wood rolled the dice and put Simonds back in with just two minutes left in the period and he dished out back-to-back assists on baskets by KJ Buffen and Michael White and then closed out the third quarter with a steal and dunk to pull Gainesville within 60-58 heading into the fourth quarter. Simonds opened the fourth quarter with another steal and dunk to tie the game at 60 with 7:42 left.
But with Wheeler holding a slim 64-63 lead, Simonds and Wheeler’s Mahkhai Eastmond were called for double technical fouls, which fouled out Simonds with 4:50 left in the game.
The Wildcats took advantage holding the Red Elephants to just a pair of White baskets the rest of the way and hit 9-of-11 free throws over the final four minutes to pull away for the victory.
White, who picked up part of the slack when Simonds wasn't on the floor with 14 points and five rebounds off the bench, said they felt confident.
"It was a big game for us to see where we are," White said. "We were focused as a team. D'Marcus carries us but we just tried to play our game when he wasn't out there. I thought we did okay at times."
“You saw what (D’Marcus) can do and we were in a position to win the game. Michael (White) had a great game for us and we’re trying to find ways to get him on the floor as much as we can,” Wood said. “Again, we’re learning and getting better and that is why we are trying to play in more environments like this.”
Buffen led Gainesville with 15 points and five rebounds. Messiah Dorsey added 13 points, Simonds finished with 12 points, six assists, and four rebounds, and Turner had 10 points for the Red Elephants.
Perry finished with a game-high 19 points and Romello White added 16 points, 13 in the second half, powered by four huge stick-back baskets, to lead Wheeler. Al-Wajio Aminu had 11 points for the Wildcats, who were 23-of-32 from the free throw line.
Gainesville was just 9-of-17 from the foul line.
It was a frenetic pace from the beginning. The Wildcats pressured the Red Elephants the entire floor in the opening minutes but Gainesville found the gaps to hit four 3-pointers in the four minutes, two by White, to grab a 14-8 lead.
Wheeler’s press eventually got to the Red Elephants forcing four straight turnovers to help spark a 10-5 run to close out the first quarter to pull within 19-18.
Both teams were hot from outside early with each team hitting seven 3-pointers in the first half. Gainesville, however, hit just one 3-pointer in the second half as the taller Wildcats pushed their defensive pressure beyond the 3-point line.
