Unbeaten Curie rolls over Simeon
It has been a remarkable week for Curie. The No. 3 Condors smashed Morgan Park by 32 points on the road Tuesday. On Thursday, they cruised to a 66-54 victory against Simeon.
“Honestly, I would have been satisfied with a split,” Curie coach Mike Oliver said. “To get two huge wins like we did is incredible, and the way we got them is just icing on the cake.”
Oliver has a trio of long, talented players in DaJuan Gordon, Ramean Hinton and Justin Harmon. All three can shoot well and get to the basket. Senior Damari Nixon is another dangerous shooter lurking on the perimeter.
But it’s senior Trevon Hamilton, an experienced, steady and unselfish point guard, who might be the key to the entire show.
“He just keeps everyone in check and gets the right people the ball,” Oliver said “Tonight, Ramean, was hot. On Tuesday, Nixon was the guy. It is great to have a team that can score like this and someone that can take care of the ball and get it to guys in the right position.”
Harmon had 19 points and eight rebounds, Hinton 17 points and five rebounds and Gordon 15 points and six rebounds.
“We have never had a team where so many guys can score,” Oliver said. “Normally, we have one or two guys that can really score. So far this year, we can have a different leading scorer every game.”
Curie (10-0, 3-0 Red-South/Central) led by six at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 14-3 run. Oliver’s focus after the game was trying to keep his team from getting too cocky about knocking off two of the state’s best programs in a three-day stretch.
“We can’t get too high on it, but we can’t get too low, either,” Hamilton said. “We worked hard for this, so we aren’t going to take it for granted. We also aren’t going to get big-headed about it. We still feel like people don’t respect us enough.”
Simeon (1-5, 1-2) already has lost more games than in any season since it was 25-9 in 2009-10. The Wolverines figured things out in the playoffs and won the Class 4A state title that season.
“We knew Simeon was young, but we also know they are Simeon and we can’t just come out and step on the floor and beat them,” Hamilton said. “We knew we had to come out and play hard.”
Sophomore Frederick Poole had the best game of his varsity career. He led the Wolverines with 14 points off the bench. Ahamad Bynum scored 13 points but injured his ankle late in the first half and did not return. Antonio Reeves added seven points.
“When we looked at the schedule, we told them how huge this week would be,” Oliver said. “We won it as a team, and that is important. We have six guys playing well, and that is great.”
Young started the season No. 1 in the Super 25. The Dolphins lost a game over the weekend at a high-profile event in Washington, D.C. Undefeated Bloom and Curie have played well enough over the last week to stake a claim to the top spot.
“We want to be No. 1, but that isn’t our primary goal of the season,” Hamilton said. “We want to win the last game we play in March. But all the games we’ve played so far with this tough schedule, it is helping us be prepared.”