With no starters back from last year’s Public League championship team, Curie’s boys took some time to come together this season.
But as the calendar flipped to February and this year’s city tournament got underway, players like junior Justin Oliver were stepping up for the Condors.
Oliver scored 31 points as Curie rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win 79-69 at Perspectives-Leadership in the second round of the Public League playoffs on Feb. 6. Then, two days later, he had 15 points in a wild 74-68 win against Simeon at Corliss that featured seven technical fouls — five against the Wolverines.
That avenged two previous losses to Simeon this season and sent the defending city champion Condors (20-8) into this week’s semifinals.
After the Perspectives win, Curie coach Mike Oliver talked about Justin Oliver’s progress.
“He carried us tonight,” Mike Oliver said. “The last four, five games he’s just coming into his own. (He’s) doing a great job scoring the ball (and) when he has to, facilitate. He’s one of the most underrated juniors in the city. So every night coming out, he’s got something to prove.”
Justin Oliver hit seven straight shots during one stretch against Perspectives, including two of his three 3-pointers in the game.
“I just played off their reaction,” he said. “I (saw a defender) going under the screen a lot. And when he went under the screen, I just shot the ball. Lucky for us, it was going in.”
“Justin had a couple drives that really opened it up for us,” Mike Oliver said. “And then he was a smart player down at the end, he started dropping it off and that was the key.”
Justin Oliver was just as focused on the other side of the ball, especially during the pivotal fourth quarter.
“Defense,” he said. “That’s what it started (with). Defense turned to offense. Missed a lot of free throws down the stretch, could have had a bigger lead. But defense (was the difference).”
As usual, Curie had multiple offensive contributors against Perspectives and Simeon. Kendall Holliday added 13 points and Brad Johnson Jr. had 10 vs. Perspectives, while Michael Oliver Jr. had 23 points and Johnson added 17 in the Simeon win.
“Kendall was big for us,” Mike Oliver said. “He was catching and finishing around the basket.”
Winning on the road at Perspectives in a packed and loud gym was an indication of Curie’s progress.
“That means a whole lot to our team because we were questioning how bad they want to win this year,” Mike Oliver said. “Coming into an environment like this against a real good team — there’s some really good basketball players over there, they play hard for coach (Justin) Rhymes — we knew it was going to be a tough fight.”