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On Thursday, some students at Simeon were afraid there would be retaliation over the shooting. Others were just sad about how the incident will frame their school.
"They lose and we win, so there's always beef with us," said Markus Griffin, 18. "We're a good school."
Simeon won the game 53-51.
Because of the intensity of the rivalry between Simeon and Morgan Park, Griffin doesn't even attend games between the two teams, he said. He'd rather watch from home than go into an unsafe environment.
Bridget Pollard, whose son Kendall is a forward for Simeon, said she worries about the environment her son is growing up in.
"I'm very angry about this boy getting shot last night," Pollard said. "I can't even let Kendall get out of the car to pump my gas because I'm afraid for his life."
The victim of the shooting, Lawson, enjoyed video games and the outdoors, his mother said. He loved his dog, Midnight, so much, according to his grandmother, that he gave up his bedroom for it and slept on a futon in another room.
On Wednesday, Lawson had sent a text message to Wright asking for permission to attend the Simeon-Morgan Park game. Later, she said, she drove him to the game but was worried for his safety. That night, her fiance assured her Lawson would be safe. About an hour later, she learned he had been shot.
Wright, in an interview at her home, said she and her fiance, Gregory Young, had been planning to tell Lawson on Thursday that they were getting married next week. Instead, they will bury her son and then tie the knot on Feb. 26, which would have been Lawson's 18th birthday.
Tribune reporters Patrick Svitek, Colleen Kane and Naomi Nix contributed.