By Mike Clark

Coach Mike Oliver likes to talk about the Curie Way.

Simply put, it means players paying their dues, waiting their turn and eventually reaping the rewards.

Few have been as patient as Carlos Harris III, the Condors’ senior point guard.

On Saturday night, it was Harris’ time to celebrate one of the biggest goals of any Public League athlete: a city championship.

Playing on the same Credit Union 1 Arena court he’ll call home in college, the UIC recruit put together another dominant performance as Curie beat Red South-Central rival Kenwood 65-59 for its first Public League title since 2019.

Harris had 20 points and seven rebounds — both game-highs — to go along with five assists and a steal. Will Gonzalez, another of the Condors’ five senior starters, had 15 points, four rebounds, six assists and a block. Brad Johnson Jr. added eight points off the bench.

Aleks Alston led Kenwood with 18 points, freshman Devin Cleveland had 12 off the bench (all on 3-pointers), Calvin Robins Jr. scored 10 and Chris Riddle had nine points, six rebounds and four steals.

Harris has been playing varsity basketball since he was a freshman during the pandemic-delayed and shortened 2021 season. He’s been close to a city title before, most notably last season when the Condors lost an epic four-overtime semifinal to Simeon.

But there was no denying Harris this time.”It feels great,” he said. “I’ve been here multiple times. … I’ve been pushing — pushing myself, pushing my team to win city. But the job isn’t over with.”

The Condors (27-2) have bigger goals in a season where no one team seems head and shoulders above the rest. Curie is the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A Riverside-Brookfield Sectional and if the seeds hold, could see Kenwood for the third time this season in the sectional final on March 1.

This meeting was closer than the first one, a 68-49 home win for the Condors on Jan. 11. It was tied at 12 after one quarter, but the Condors opened the second period on an 11-0 run and Kenwood (23-7) never caught up. Curie led by as many as 12 in the second half and the lead got no less than five points.

Harris had 14 of his points after halftime, but said that wasn’t the result of a conscious decision to score more.

“I’m a passer first,” he said. “I’ll let the game come to me. If the points are coming, I’m going (for them). I’m (also) playing defense, getting rebounds. Whatever way we win, we win as a team.”

That includes coaches as well as players. At one point, Oliver planned to sub out Mason Minor after a tough stretch. But he was talked out of it, a scenario unlikely to happen without a high level of trust between player and coach.

“That’s what we build Curie basketball on,” Oliver said. “Trusting each other. I’ve got these five seniors, they tell me all the time, you the coach but we the players. We see things you don’t see. … Mason had made a couple mistakes and we (planned) to pull him out just to talk to him. Carlos said, ‘No, don’t take him out.’ And I trust those guys.”

On the other bench, Kenwood coach Mike Irvin had nothing but respect for Harris.

“Carlos is tough,” Irvin said. “He’s a throwback Chicago player. He may not get ranked nationally, but he’s a national guy because he plays on the circuit. … He’s a top guard. I think he’s one of the best guards in the country.”

Oliver, who has coached multiple Division I players over a career of more than three decades, said Harris is one of the best he’s had.

“This guy is a leader,” Oliver said. “He’s a hard worker. But he’s one of the most unselfish players who’s ever been at Curie.”

Photos by Brandon Parker/OSA