Ford's drive upsets Young

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In one magnificent quarter, Jason Ford delivered on the promise coach Mike Oliver has been waiting on.

The 6-1 wingman scored 10 points in the final quarter, including a baseline drive with 41 seconds remaining that gave Curie a stunning 64-63 victory over Young in the Public League quarterfinals at UIC.

Ford finished with 14 points, including 6-of-6 from the line in the pivotal final quarter.

‘‘We’ve been coming here [to the quarterfinals] so many years and the score always ended up pretty lopsided,’’ Ford said. ‘‘I’ve been on the varsity for three years and this was my time. I couldn’t let the seniors go out that way.’’

On the ensuing possession, Young worked the clock down before senior guard AJ Rompza missed a 14-footer.  The Dolphins retained possession and called time out with 2.5 seconds remaining.

But Young was called for an inbounds violation coming out of the time out and Curie (20-6) dribbled out the clock.

Ford’s heroics capped a remarkable fourth quarter that witnessed eight lead changes.

‘‘We’ve been waiting on Jason to play like this for three years,’’ Oliver said. ‘‘We always knew he was a player with a lot of talent and it was his time to step up.’’

Senior guard Donavan Foster led the Condors with 15 points. Senior Steve Goins added 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.  Freshmen Wayne Blackshear and Greg Travis each added ten points.

The Curie victory overshadowed Young’s remarkable comeback from a 14-point second quarter deficit.  The Dolphins used a 19-5 third quarter run to turn a 36-28 halftime deficit into a 47-41 lead late in the third quarter.

Rompza scored 21 points, but was shut out the final 10 minutes after picking up his fourth foul with 1:22 left in the third.

Young (22-5) led 50-46 entering the final quarter. Sophomore reserve Ahmad Starks added 15 and junior Chris Colvin scored all 11 of his points in the second half for the Dolphins.