Merry Madness Day 1: Curie wins on buzzer-beater, roundup

By Dominic Scianna

Warning! Beware of playing the Curie Condors boys basketball team. As of Dec. 22, head coach Mike Oliver’s crew is 8-0 and ranked the #2 team in the Chicago Sun-Times prep basketball rankings with a flair for dramatic comeback wins this season.

The most recent was a 42-40 nailbiter at the Merry Madness Holiday Shootout on Dec. 22, hosted by the Chicago Public League at Whitney Young. Their opponent, St. Ignatius (#6 in the Sun-Times ratings), led for 32-plus minutes of the 40-minute thriller.

The crazy part about the comeback was Curie shot 1-for-21 from three-point range, missed 10 free throws on the night, and had 20 turnovers. In addition, it had no answer to stop 6-foot-6-inch Wolfpack big man Chris Bolte (17 points, 14 rebounds).

Enter Curie’s Justin Oliver to save the day with a step-back jumper with two seconds remaining to break a 40-all tie and vault the Condors to victory.

“We were down by 8 points (late in the 4th quarter) and I felt like I had to take over,” said Justin, who took home MVP honors. “We’re never going to quit no matter how far we’re down. This is my first-ever game-winning shot and it felt a little bit better than I thought it would be.”

Justin Oliver finished with 14 points and teammate Kendall Holiday added 11 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots for Curie in the win. St. Ignatius (9-2) was led by Bolte and junior Chris Chittaro, who tallied 10 points in defeat.

“That St. Ignatius team is tough and well coached,” said coach Oliver. “But Justin did what Justin does, hit the big shot, and we played good defense to hold them to just 40 points the entire game.”

Merry Madness Tournament Roundup (Day 1)

Schurz 53, Dyett 47

Michael Chaney Jr. led the way as MVP for the Schurz Bulldogs (8-1) with 16 points to go with Kamarion Fagairo’s 14-point effort. Dyett’s high scorer was Kaleb Summaries with 14 and Jesus Mitchell Hightower with 11 in the loss.

Kennedy 63, Bowen 59

Julian Cuevas poured in 17 points as the game’s MVP for the Crusaders of Kennedy (5-5). He was complimented by Ja’Veon Sargent-Williams who tallied 16 for the victors. Bowen (6-4) got strong contributions from Tracey Fleming, who scored 16 points in defeat.

Michele Clark 67, Phillips 49

Coach Terry Head’s Eagles rode the stellar play of Jeremiee George’s 18 points for the win as George secured MVP honors for Michele Clark. The Eagles (10-1) also had key contributions from Jamarion Raines in a 15-point effort. The Wildcats of Phillips had three players in double figures with Ryan Whitt (12 points) and Denari Stewart and Christian Lowe chipping in with 10 points each.

Westinghouse 68, Carver 31

The Warriors of Westinghouse were led by MVP Jemari Jackson’s 16 points (seven coming in the fourth quarter) for the win. Ja’Marion Allen had 14 to combine with Jackson for the victory. The Challengers from Carver got 13 points from Carlos Marshall and six points each from Javon Phillips and Jamel Hancock in defeat.

Photos by Zoe Davis/OSA

Curie vs. St. Ignatius