Curie’s system is designed for winning basketball games, not creating stars.
Veteran coach Mike Oliver routinely goes deep into his bench, shuffling players in and out to keep their legs fresh while playing the Condors’ trademark brand of sticky defense.
On the other end of the court, the focus is on finding the high-percentage shot rather than feeding any particular player.
But senior Justin Oliver is clearly the best player on the Public League’s best team, and sometimes he winds up taking over a game.
So it was on Jan. 10 at DePaul Prep, when Oliver broke loose for a career-high 39 points in a 71-67 win against Bolingbrook in the Steve Pappas Shootout.
Oliver shot 14 of 20 from the floor, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. He also made 6 of 7 from the foul line and grabbed seven rebounds. Tobyus Banks added nine points for Curie, while Kendall Holliday and Keith Collins both scored six.
Curie (15-1), which beat Thornwood 73-51 a day later behind Oliver’s 21 points, came from 12 down in the first half against Bolingbrook.
Oliver put the Condors ahead to stay at 42-40 with a basket at 6:15 of the third quarter and hit a deep 3-pointer to make it 70-60 with 1:25 remaining. The Raiders got within three points, but Curie held on.
Justin Oliver said he didn’t feel like he needed to take over the game, even with the Condors down double digits.
“But, like, after my second 3 went down, I knew it was going to be a good day for sure,” he said.
Saturday was part of a stretch of three games in four days, including a Jan. 8 win in Kentucky. But neither Oliver nor his teammates showed signs of fatigue.
“We just love competition, we love playing hard and we just want to win,” Oliver said.
Mike Oliver wasn’t surprised by his star’s big day.
“He just carried us tonight,” the coach said. “He was a (one-man) show. … That was an incredible performance.”
Mike Oliver didn’t think the Condors were out of the game even when Bolingbrook led 37-25 late in the second quarter.
“We knew we could … put some pressure on them,” he said. “I just told the guys to stay with it (and) we’re going to make them turn the ball over. That’s what happened.
“We got back within two (37-35 at halftime), so I knew we (were) in good shape.”
Bolingbrook has a four-star sophomore prospect in 6-3 guard Brady Pettigrew, who already has multiple Power Five offers. He scored 17 points in the first half and finished with 23. But the Raiders were without senior guard Trey Brost.
“Pettigrew is a good player,” Mike Oliver said. “I think we did a good job of shutting him down.”