Lawrenceville’s Simpson returns to Hill on other side of rivalry game

POTTSTOWN >> Grey Simpson spent a decade at the Hill School, seven of which he served as the school’s varsity girls basketball coach.

During that time, Simpson became intrigued by the Hill School-Lawrenceville rivalry, which dates back to the 1800s.

Simpson left Hill in 2014 as the school’s winningest girls basketball coach. He returned to Gillson Gymnasium Wednesday on the opposite side of the historic rivalry game as the head man at Lawrenceville, a position he took over last season.

Along with seeing some familiar faces, it was a pleasant trip for Simpson as his Lawrenceville team, which features his daughter Taylor at point guard, went home with a 57-35 rivalry win over the Blues to open Mid-Atlantic Prep League play.

“It was an exciting emotional experience for me personally,” Simpson said. “My daughter grew up learning how to shoot and dribble on that court. Now, she’s out there playing against Hill. Family-wise it was an emotional lead-up going in here, but as far as our team goes, and what our goals are this year, it’s the first MAPL game. You’ve gotta go 1-0 in the MAPL.”

Lawrenceville blanked Hill in the first quarter Wednesday on the way to storming out to a 17-3 lead. Eve Nealon, in her first game back from injury, sparked the Blues offense in the second quarter, but Lawrenceville maintained a 30-14 advantage at the break.

Led by Aine Farrell, Hill chipped the lead down to 11 in the third quarter, but Lawrenceville held a 39-26 advantage after three and extended that lead to 51-27 about three minutes into the fourth.

Lawrenceville guard Heaven Figueroa and forward Gabrielle Hemenes proved a handful for Hill, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. Farrell had 13 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter, and Nealon had nine for the Blues.

“When you get down big like that, it’s hard to come back,” Hill coach Jen Weissbach said. “I’m proud of the way our girls played though. I thought we played tough and played hard to defend home court in our first league game. There’s obviously a lot of emotions that go into this game. It was not the first game we were hoping for.”

“She’s grown so much from last year, where she’s able to step in and knock down those shots and be strong for us,” Weissbach added on Farrell. “She needed time to settle down, get calm a little bit. Once we calmed down, we got it going a little in the second half, but it was almost too little too late.”

Simpson was head coach at the Hill School from 2007-14 before departing for an administrative position at the Darlington School in Georgia. During his years at Hill, Simpson often went up against current Blues assistant Len Miller, who was the head coach of Lawrenceville at the time.

The Blues’ other assistant coach Deanna Mayza was on Simpson’s side of those rivalry games, playing for the Blues from 2010-13, winning 47 games, going to two MAPL title games and a Pennsylvania Independent Schools championship.

Mayza followed a standout career at Hartford University by playing professionally in Lithuania and Denmark before returning to the U.S. for an assistant coaching position at Division-III Montclair State last season and joining the Hill coaching staff this school year.

In her first time taking part in the Hill-Lawrenceville rivalry as coach, Mayza had a familiar face pacing the opposing sidelines.

“Obviously it was a little strange coaching against him and growing up I knew his daughter too, just kind of seeing her out there seeing her playing out in front of me,” Mayza said. “I’m here to coach Hill and beat whoever we play. Obviously it was just a battle between two great teams, and it doesn’t really matter coach vs. coach. To see him say hello to me was pretty cool.”

Simpson has a special appreciation for the Hill-Lawrenceville rivalry game. He began tracking the series history when he was a coach at Hill and has continued now at Lawrenceville, where he also takes part as the Big Red’s head football coach.

Both girls basketball games came down the wire last season with Lawrenceville pulling out a 50-48 regular season win before knocking the Blues out of the MAPL Tournament with a 55-52 victory.

“It’s always a tough game regardless of records,” Simpson said. “Last year, we won both games, but it was two-or-three-point games both times. It’s always fun to be a part of the rivalry. That’s why I try to make sure the kids are aware. Not everyone has the opportunity to be a part of a rivalry game like this.”

Even fewer have the chance to experience a rivalry game from both sidelines.

“Coming back here, I have so many great memories in that gym,” Simpson said. “To be on the other bench was a totally weird experience, but it was fun.”

NOTES >> Nealon, a postgraduate guard from Ireland who is a member of the U18 national team, was seeing her first action of the season for the Blues. She missed the first two months with an injury and was on a minutes restriction Wednesday, but will be an important part for the Blues down the stretch. “Her vision and her strength on the ball is what we need,” Weissbach said. “She’s kind of our life line moving forward. She was brought in for that reason to be a point guard, and obviously got hurt early on, but she’s the one who handles the ball for us. She manages game situations. She calms us down. She does a lot of good for our team, so we’re excited to have her back.”