Roundup: Boys Basketball Red Semifinals

By Mike Clark

Curie senior Brad Johnson Jr. knew there were doubters.

The Condors won the Public League Red title last season, but all five starters graduated. There were speed bumps this season as Curie navigated a challenging schedule and finished sixth in the Red Shield.

Even on Thursday night in the Red semifinals at Credit Union 1 Arena, Curie fell behind upstart Hyde Park early in the fourth quarter. But Johnson and the Condors finished on a 16-4 run to win 51-43 and return to the city title game.

There, Curie will face Kenwood — a 64-55 winner over Young in the second semifinal — in a rematch of the 2024 final. The game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday and will be televised by the U (Ch. 26).

“It means a lot,” said Johnson, who had 15 points and five blocks against Hyde Park. “People came in thinking that we (weren’t) supposed to be back in the championship game. So we just came out and tried our hardest to get back to where we were supposed to be.”

Curie (21-8) had a 6-6 stretch in December and January, but now has won five in a row.

“We just challenged ourselves to let us know we’ve got to be a family,” Condors coach Mike Oliver said. “We got to stick together, we don’t point fingers. When we were 16-8, people say we (were) down. I told them, we’ll take 16-8, a lot of people would. But that’s not the Curie way.

“And I just challenged the guys the next two weeks to start playing the Curie way.”

That way is based on aggressive defense all over the court. The Condors shut out Hyde Park (13-15) for the first 9:15, leading 7-0 after one quarter, Curie forced the Thunderbirds into 13 turnovers and 16-of-43 shooting.

“We were just a little nervous,” Johnson said of the slow start. “I think both teams were just nervous. Then we got the jitters out of the way in the second half and we came out better.”

Hyde Park briefly pulled ahead in the second quarter and the game was close the rest of the way. It was tied at 22 at halftime, at 35 after three quarters.

Baskets by Kye Ward-Owens and Lavontae Walls put Hyde Park up 39-35 with under seven minutes left. But Curie surged back and went ahead for good at 42-40 on Justin Oliver’s fall-away jumper with 4:02 remaining.

Ward-Owens’ 3-pointer from the left wing cut the deficit to 45-43 with 1:13 remaining, but the Thunderbirds didn’t score again.

Kendall Holliday had 11 points off the bench for Curie, Justin Oliver scored eight and Rashaad Wilson finished with seven.CJ Thomas scored a game-high 16 points for Hyde Park and Walls finished with 11.

“We got a couple lucky bounces down the stretch and the guys played their butt off, played hard,” Mike Oliver said.

Kenwood 64, Young 55

The Broncos (26-1), who are seeking the first Public League title in program history, opened a 12-point lead late in the second quarter. But Young (16-13) — led by Marquis Clark, who scored a game-high 27 points — wouldn’t go away and was down 53-51 with just over three minutes left before Kenwood finally put the game on ice.

Senior Aleks Alston took control in the fourth quarter, getting four of his seven assists to go along with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks.

The highlight was a no-look, behind-the-back pass to a wide-open Amari Edwards in the right corner for a 3-pointer that made it 59-51.

“It’s a bigger court, so I feel we’re able to space out more,” Alston said. “And we got the defense confused off (of) moving the ball, cutting. … Amari, I know (he’s) going to be behind me ready to shoot and knock it down.

“It’s just about finding my teammates, knowing where they are. I’m used to playing with them now.”That includes Edwards, who won a Class 2A state title at Phillips last season before transferring to Kenwood this season.

Edwards finished with 16 points and four assists.

His role?

“Just being a senior point guard — like my coach tells me all the time, I got to come up (big) in the big moments. I did that tonight and my team helped me do this.”

The Broncos also did the job on the other end.

“I feel like defense is the No. 1 thing that we focused on for this year,” Kenwood’s Devin Cleveland said. “In the past years, they’d say that Kenwood can’t guard nobody. So we want to change the narrative.”

TJ Seals added 12 points and five rebounds for Kenwood, while Damari Stephens was a spark off the bench with nine points and four rebounds in 12 minutes.

On the other side, Clark accounted for almost half of Young’s points on 12-of-22 shooting.

“I think it’s malfeasance not to talk about Marquis Clark as a Player of the Year candidate,” Young coach Tyrone Slaughter said. “Those numbers that you saw tonight … he’s been doing that all over the country against some of the best talent in the country.”

Antonio Munoz just missed a double-double, finishing with 12 points, a highlight-reel dunk and nine rebounds.

“We should have won this game,” Munoz said. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t have won this game. I came into this game with the utmost confidence, my whole team had confidence. We just crumbled.”But we’ll be right back for the state run.”

Photos by Sydney Gaietto, Amundsen senior (IG: snapshots.bysid)