Boys Hoops Wrap | Curie stays hot with four wins in four days

*For the period of Jan. 15-21 2024

By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent

Curie played games on four straight days last week, ending the stretch with an 86-60 victory over Joliet West for their 17^th consecutive win

In the Jan. 21 matchup played at the Ronald Chops Billinger Memorial Shootout at Whitney Young, five players scoring in double digits. Mason Minor carried his strong play with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Will Gonzalez had 16 points, Derrick Dowdell scored 14 points, and Carlos Harris and Taevion Collier each had 12 points.

On Jan. 18, the Condors (21-1, 6-0 Chicago Public-Red) headed west to play in the Quincy Shootout at Notre Dame High School. After showing up three hours late because of travel delays. They defeated Millard North (Nebraska), 79-74.

The next day, they beat Father Tolton (Missouri), 58-51. Senior guard Mason Minor was named MVP of the game after scoring a game-high 16 points. Carlos Harris III added 12 points, including seven in the final quarter. Taevion Collier had eight points and game-high 12 rebounds.

The Condors began their stretch of games with an 86-44 rout of Englewood Stem.

Argo (6-15, 1-6 SSC Red)

The Argonauts as played four straight nights, including three South Suburban Conference games. They suffered losses to Lemont (77-58), Evergreen Park (78-60) and Lisle (59-47), but topped Shepard, 54-40, in an SSC Red game on Jan. 18.

Kassam Saleh averaged 21.8 points for the week, including a 29-point performance against Lisle and dropping 22 on Shepard.

Chicago Christian’s Malachi Krestel sees a sea of white jerseys during a win over Shepard on Jan. 17. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Chicago Christian (7-13, 1-4 Chicagoland Christian)

The Knights split two road games. They opened the week with an 82-62 conference loss to Chicago Hope on Jan. 16, but defeated crosstown rival Shepard, 64-50, the following night. AJ Van Dellen led the Knights with 20 points in the win. Kerry Teague scored 18 points.

De La Salle (12-8, 3-1 Chicago Catholic Blue)

The Meteors went 2-0, with an 88-48 conference win over Provident-St. Mel and a 75-60 non-conference win against Evergreen Park.

Evergreen Park (15-7, 5-2 South Suburban)

The Mustangs defeated T.F. South (61-42) and Argo (78-60) to extend their win streak to four games. The streak was snapped by a 75-60 loss to De La Salle.

Nolan Sexton averaged 18 points per game for the week. The Mustangs had four players score 10 or more points in each of their two wins. Ulises Cardenas scored a week-high of 20 points in the  win against the Argonauts.

Lyons (7-12, 3-4 West Suburban Silver)

The Lions went 2-3 in five games, losing to Neuqua Valley (66-53), DeKalb (61-50) and Proviso West (58-52). They beat Hinsdale Central (48-45) and Proviso East (66-62) to end the week.

Brady Chambers averaged 23.5 points and 13 rebounds across the two wins. Liam Taylor had 16 points and six rebounds against Hinsdale Central. Caleb Greer contributed 17 points and grabbed four rebounds in a win against Proviso East.

Morton (3-14, 0-5 West Suburban Gold)

The Mustangs suffered an 68-44 loss to Hinsdale South on Jan. 18.

Mount Carmel (21-3, 4-0 Chicago Catholic- Blue)

The Caravan defeated Glenbrook North (67-58), Marmion (62-50) and Loyola (47-36) to run their win streak to 10 games, before losing to Kenwood (82-70). The loss to Kenwood was Mount Carmel’s first loss to an Illinois team this season.

Nazareth (7-12, 2-6 East Suburban Catholic)

The Roadrunners defeated St. Viator (57-53) in a conference matchup at home Jan. 17. Four Nazareth players scored in double figures in the win. The Roadrunners defeated Proviso West (54-49) very next day. Talen Pearson led the Roadrunners with his 15 points and six assists while Matthew Callahan scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in the win over Proviso West.

Oak Lawn (11-6, 4-1 South Suburban)

The Spartans dropped an SSC crossover matchup (75-66) to Lemont. Sophomore Jack Dempsey led Oak Lawn with 18 points and Dontè Montgomery added 17 points.

Reavis (9-9, 3-4 SSC Red)

The Rams suffered conference crossover losses to SSC Blue teams Lemont (70-44) and Hillcrest (63-44).

Richards (9-12, 1-5 SSC Red)

The Bulldogs went 2-0 with wins over Tinley Park (71-63) and College Prep of America (60-53). The win over the Titans was their first conference victory of the season. Marcus Jenning came off the bench and scored a career-high 26 points in that game.

Riverside Brookfield (17-3, 3-0 Metro Suburban)

The Bulldogs went 2-1 last week, the loss being a 63-57 setback to Hillcrest. They bounced back against Elmwood Park (72-45) and Fenwick (63-59 OT). Stefan Cicic finished with 23 points,14 rebounds and five blocks in the win. Steven Brown had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

St. Laurence (12-8, 5-0 Chicago Catholic White)

The Vikings picked up two conference wins with a 52-26 victory over Montini and a 67-52 win over IC Prep. Zerrick Johnson and Bradley Stratton each scored 17 points in the Vikings’ win over the Knights. Josh Pickett added 14 points and had seven rebounds and three assists.

St. Rita (1-19, 0-4 CCL Blue)

Mustangs lost to St. Francis and St. Ignatius College Prep.

Sandburg (10-10, 0-4 Southwest Suburban- Blue)

The Eagles began the week with a 59-47 loss to Lincoln-Way Central on Jan. 16.  They bounced back two days later with a 52-48 win over Lincoln-Way West. Yanal Swaiss and Paulius Mizeras each scored 15 points in the win.

Shepard (4-15, 0-6 SSC Red)

The Astros suffered a 64-50 loss to fellow Palos Heights school Chicago Christian on Jan. 17 and 54-40 at Argo on January 18. Jovan Thomas scored 12 points against the Knights and nine against Argo. Jeremiah Storey had 12 in the loss to the Knights.

Stagg (13-8, 2-1 Southwest Suburban- Red)
The Chargers lost to Homewood-Flossmoor (67-51) and Lincoln Way East (60-50). Connor Williams scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds in game against H-F.