Thornwood’s Donovan Simpson plays a little like Dennis Rodman. And that leads to his team’s motto. ‘Don’s got us.’

On a team full of newcomers, senior forward Donovan Simpson has been a steadying force and a reliable leader all season for Thornwood.

Thunderbirds coach Deoplus Williams sees the confidence Simpson’s teammates have in him — and even notices them taking that trust a bit too far at times.

“Donovan anchors us,” Williams said. “He takes a lot of stress off guys. He’s an amazing rebounder. Sometimes, you’ll see our guys looking around like ‘Donovan is going to get it’ and not go for the ball themselves because they get too comfortable.

“But Donovan’s a ball hog in that sense. He’s like a Dennis Rodman for us. Sometimes, you need a Dennis Rodman who is going to do the dirty work. The guys relax and say, ‘Don’s got us.’ That’s a motto for us.”

Simpson lived up to that slogan Tuesday night. He scored six points, pulled down 10 rebounds and played tough defense as Thornwood shut down Oak Lawn for a 43-33 nonconference victory in South Holland.

Tristan Taylor scored 12 points to lead the Thunderbirds (20-10). Trysten Riddle added eight points, while Jeremy O’Neal matched Simpson with six points and 10 rebounds.

Eduardo Chiquito finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for Oak Lawn (20-10). Corey Lee, Ayham Salah and Robert Wagner contributed six points apiece, with Lee adding eight rebounds.

On a night when both teams struggled shooting, Simpson concentrated on getting his teammates some extra chances.

“Whenever I’m in the game, I just make sure my teammates know that I always have their back,” Simpson said. “No matter what shot they take, I’m always going to be there to support them and try to get the rebound back so we can get another shot.”

Simpson is an International Baccalaureate student who said he has been awarded $112,000 in academic scholarships for college.

He puts his intelligence to good use on the court as well.

“What I really do is, by midgame, I try to see the other team’s tendencies,” Simpson said. “I put that into scoring, rebounding, defense and everything. I always see how they box me out, and the next time, I try to counter that.”

Williams said Simpson often comes to the bench with advice after studying the opponent.

“Sometimes, he’ll outthink me with my coaching,” Williams said. “It’s almost like we’re playing chess. He’ll come back to me and say, ‘Coach, do you want me to front this guy? Do you want me to bring him around?’

“He asks so many questions because he’s so smart and he keeps me on my game. He’s a student on the basketball court.”

Oak Lawn led narrowly after each of the first three quarters, including 24-23 heading into the fourth, but the Spartans did not score for the first 6:35 of the final quarter as Thornwood built a 36-24 edge.

“They play defense kind of like we do and they just have more length than we do,” Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes said. “I know that bothered us around the rim, and when we don’t hit the outside shot either, that’s a tough combination.”

Taylor, who transferred from Leo and is one of several first-year Thunderbirds, came off the bench to lead Thornwood in scoring.

“I just play my role,” Taylor said. “My coaches and teammates put me in good position to score, so it’s not too hard.”

It was the regular-season finale for both teams, but Thornwood will head into the postseason with momentum.

“In the playoffs, I think teams are going to underestimate us and that’s going to be a problem,” Simpson said. “That’s going to play to our advantage. They don’t know what we can do.”

Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.