Walker’s three puts Condors in title game
PONTIAC — Curie’s Marquise Walker burst onto the scene as a freshman, helping to lead St. Joseph to the Class 3A state title game.
He had a rocky season last year with the Chargers and transferred to Curie in the summer. Things are starting to come together nicely.
The junior has become the goto guy for the No. 2 Condors. He’s a talented ball- handler and scorer, and he displayed his flair for dramatic shots Saturday in the semifinals of the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.
Curie and Oak Park were tied with 12 seconds to play.
“[ Walker] asked for it in the huddle, said he wanted the ball,” Curie coach Mike Oliver said. “He had a hand in our last eight points, so when he asked for it, we just told him to make sure it was the last shot. If he didn’t make it, we wanted to go into overtime.”
Walker dribbled the clock down, then attacked with two seconds to play, creating space and popping off a three- pointer that swished through to give the Condors a 42- 39 victory and a spot in the title game.
“I just told Coach that if we wanted to win, give me the ball,” Walker said. “I felt like I could hit the shot anytime I wanted to.
‘‘ They gave me the ball, my teammates trusted me and my coaches trusted me. I call that ‘ Quise mode.’ You just have to get in your mode sometimes.”
Walker led Curie ( 10- 1) with 13 points and scored 10 in the fourth quarter. Oak Park led 20- 14 at the half.
“We played horrible [ in the first half ], probably our worst basketball all year,” Walker said. “We did what we needed to do in the second half, but the first half was horrific. It was a nightmare.”
Curie’s first lead came on a three- point play by Walker with 2: 04 left.
Treavon Martin had seven points and nine rebounds, and Jayden Gasby added six points and eight rebounds for the Condors.
ChaseRobinson led OakPark( 9- 1) with 14 points, and Isaiah Fuller fin- ished with 13 points.
Curie played No. 1 Simeon in the title game late Saturday.
The Wolverines didn’t just beat Danville 73- 48 in the other semifinal. Simeon put on a show with eight dunks, including some alley- oops, and several behind- the- back passes.
Simeon coach Robert Smith had mixed feelings about all the flair.
“We make a lot of boneheaded plays because they want to hit the home run all the time,” Smith said.
“You have to live and die with it. They’re making some good plays and they’re looking to pass to each other, so as long as they’re going to guard and play defense, I’m fine with it.
‘‘ But we have to be a little smarter about when to do that.”
Wolverines senior Talen HortonTucker scored only six points but seemed to control the play. He had 18 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks.
“Lately Talen has been distributing to other guys,” Smith said. “He’s the focal point, and that leaves the other guys open. [ Kenny Pittman] made some shots early; it opened the floor for us.”
Messiah Jones scored 15 points for Simeon, and Zion Young and Xavier Pinson each added 13.
The Wolverines held Danville star Kendle Moore to 15 points. Caleb Griffin led the Vikings with 18 points and seven rebounds.
“That wasn’t a bad team we just beat,” Smith said. “If they were in Chicago, they’d be a top- five team.”