Birthday boy Devin Cleveland’s overtime heroics lead Kenwood past Simeon

Kenwood guard Devin Cleveland turned 16 on Tuesday. The sophomore sensation celebrated in front of a packed house at the Class 4A Hinsdale Central sectional semifinal, delighting Broncos fans and breaking Simeon hearts with clutch, game-winning plays in the final minutes of Kenwood’s 58-56 overtime victory against the Wolverines.

“This is a great birthday present,” Cleveland said.

It was a gift that Cleveland gave himself. Cleveland blocked Lorenzo Shield’s potential game-winning corner three at the buzzer.

Cleveland’s driving traditional three-point play with 39 seconds left put the Broncos (30-1) ahead 58-56. Cleveland also scored first in the overtime. He finished with 18 points and five rebounds.

Simeon led 42-23 after Andre Tyler’s basket with 3:04 left in the third quarter. Top-ranked Kenwood faced its biggest deficit of the season.

“We tried not to let it frustrate us,” Kenwood coach Joseph Mason said. “We had to make adjustments as coaches and figure out where we could get a spark.”

Senior TJ Shields helped provide the spark. The 6-6 senior stepped up his rebounding and gave Kenwood the interior presence it had lacked. Seals finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. His tip-in just before the buzzer at the end of regulation sent the game to overtime.

“That tip in, man, I just wanted to hug him at half court,” Cleveland said. “We really needed that.”

It was a well-played, high-level game featuring several of the best seniors and juniors in the state. But in the biggest moments it was Cleveland, the sophomore star, who stepped up.

“I saw [Amari Edwards’] head down and TJ’s head down,” Cleveland said. “I wanted to bring those heads up. I didn’t want this to be their last game.”

The comeback started defensively, as the Broncos forced Simeon into multiple turnovers early in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines (21-8) scored just two field goals in the fourth quarter and one in overtime.

“We knew Simeon would come ready to play,” Mason said. “It’s hard to beat a tough team twice.”

Edwards finished with 14 points and five rebounds and Aleks Alston added six points and five rebounds.

“We are not 20 points less than them,” Cleveland said. “We knew we could beat them. Our energy from the start just wasn’t good enough.”

Tyler led Simeon with 22 points and seven rebounds. Shields had eight points and seven rebounds and senior Julien Doyle added 12 points and six rebounds for the Wolverines.

“There is a reason we are 30-1,” Cleveland said. “We are resilient. We will always come back in big games like this. I needed to win this for Amari, Alex and TJ.”

Kenwood will face the winner of tomorrow’s Young-Curie game in the sectional final on Friday.

While the Broncos survived, the area’s No. 2 team did not. Bolingbrook lost to Downers Grove North 29-26 in a defensive slugfest sectional semifinal game at Benet.