Kamari Hamlin’s clutch free throws clinch Simeon’s win against Lincoln Park

The Simeon crowd started celebrating as soon as Kamari Hamlin was fouled. The junior doesn’t have much varsity basketball experience. But he’s one of their own and every Wolverines fan in the gym seemed confident that Hamlin would make the two free throws Simeon desperately needed.

“[Hamlin] has been around the program since he was a baby,” Simeon coach Tim Flowers said. “He just knows.”

Hamlin stayed on the ground for a while. His shoulder was hurt when he hit the floor after driving to the basket, but he picked himself up and trotted to the free-throw line. The Wolverines trailed Lincoln Park by one point with 0.4 seconds left.

“I knew it was money,” Simeon senior Lorenzo Shields said.

Hamlin lived up to the expectations of his coach, his teammates and his father Andre, a longtime Simeon assistant coach. He made both shots to give No. 12 Simeon a 70-69 win against No. 6 Lincoln Park on Thursday.

“It feels special,” Hamlin said. “I’m comfortable at the line but I was nervous because I hurt my shoulder. But I played it off and knocked them down for my team. My dad won four state championships here. I’d like to get two of my own to have something to brag about.”

Hamlin’s heroics were possible due to Shields’ tremendous fourth quarter. He scored 17 points to keep Simeon in the game. Lincoln Park, led by junior Ahmad Lee, kept answering and led 65-56 with 1:07 left.

“Charles Smith and Jaylen Hutchinson made the difference in that last minute,” Flowers said. “Hutchinson got some big stops for us and was impressive getting into Lee. And Charles brought the energy we needed.”

Lincoln Park (9-2, 4-1 Red Shield) had the ball and a 69-66 lead with three seconds left. The win was in the Lions’ hands. Then Larry Harris picked up a technical foul near center court.

“The guy said something and Larry pushed him,” Lincoln Park coach Josh Anderson said.

Shields made both technical free throws to set up Hamlin’s moment. Shields finished with 25 points and seven rebounds. Hamlin scored 19 and Julien Doyle added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Simeon (5-3, 3-2) has been without star junior Andre Tyler all week. Tyler has been away from the team due to illness. Kassidy Nelson, another starter, was injured late in the third quarter and didn’t return.

“I had to show up for my team,” Shields said. “We are missing [Tyler] and then [Nelson] went down. I had to get the job done. We had lost three in a row and were hungry to get one. We know our potential. Winning a big game like this without [Tyler] shows what type of team we are.”

Simeon lost to three good teams: Kenwood, Niles North and Young. Still, the Wolverines didn’t want to head to the Pontiac Holiday Tournament on a four-game skid.

“Shields has been here four years,” Flowers said. “He’s been downstate. He’s won city championships. So when we get moments like that he has to step up and that’s what he did.

“That’s what you want to be, a team that figures out how to win games. It doesn’t have to be pretty.”

Lee led Lincoln Park with 24 points and nine rebounds. Senior Chayse Turner had 16 points and eight rebounds. Harris added 11 points and five rebounds.

“That was bad officiating,” Anderson said. “Phantom calls. Just real bad. [Chicago Public Schools] has to do a better job of assigning [referees to] games. They ask us as coaches to be better. The officials should do the same.”