Boys Basketball: Crane no match for Curie

Updated: February 10, 2012 9:25PM

The Curie vs. Crane game came down to two basic points: one team could do nothing wrong and the other team could do nothing right.

No. 3 Curie won 68-29 at home to advance to Sunday’s Public League quarterfinals at Chicago State. The Condors will play Morgan Park.

The Condors started the game with a 15-1 run and there was no miracle comeback in store for Crane, which came from 21 points down Tuesday to beat Vocational. The Condors’ run started with a jumper by Devin Foster and three straight rim-rattling dunks by center Cliff Alexander, as Curie built a 24-7 first-quarter lead.

A three-point play by Foster at the beginning of the second quarter was followed by three more dunks from Alexander threw down three more dunks, and the Condors were up 41-13 at halftime.

The Curie defense was stifling, forcing the Cougars into 16 of their 22 turnovers in the first half.

The reserves got plenty of action in the second half as Curie continued to press on while building a 61-22 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Alexander led all scorers with 20 points, and had 12 rebounds and eight blocks. Foster and Thomas Smith each scored 12 points, while and Jibreel Jackson had eight points and eight steals.

“I am really proud of the way they came out and played today,”Curie coach Mike Oliver said of his players. “We know what (Crane) did at (Vocational), but we came out and jumped on them early and didn’t let up.”

Foster said Oliver kept reminding the Condors that Crane was capable of coming back.

“Coach kept telling us to keep our foot down and not to lose focus and give them a reason to think that they could come back,” said Foster. “Cliff played a great game and made things easy for everybody.”

Crane coach Chris Head said he was as shocked as anyone about how the team played. “This is how it’s been all season – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They beat us every way they could today,” said Head.

Courtney Thomas had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Crane and Isiah Hayes scored 10.

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