Price shines for Curie, tops South Shore

Jeremy Price scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to lift host Curie to a 51-41 victory over upset-minded South Shore in the first round of the Public League playoffs Wednesday.

The Condors (17-6) struggled offensively throughout and trailed 9-7 after one quarter following a 9-0 run by South Shore. After Curie went up by six points in the third quarter, the Tars (13-3) tied the game at 31 on a drive by Akeem Nathaniel with 7:07 left in the fourth quarter.

Curie responded with a 7-0 run, with Dennis Hodges scoring the first three points before the 6-3 Price followed by scoring 10 of his team’s next 14 points.

“I tried to tell our guys that it doesn’t matter that [South Shore] is a Blue Division team; they play hard,” Curie coach Mike Oliver said. “We kind of overlooked them in the first half and almost dug ourselves into a hole.

"I think we made a couple of key defensive stops the last three minutes and Price came up big and also [Jason] Ford.”

Greg Travis scored 11 points while Ford had nine rebounds and three steals for Curie.

Nathaniel led South Shore, which is coached by former Marshall coach Lamont Bryant, with 12 points. Marcus Stevens added 11 points, including a 40-foot three-pointer, and Rickey Hope had five points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.