Stay Connected with YourSeason
Boys Basketball: Malcolm Hill-Bey helps Curie stay perfect
PONTIAC, Ill. – Malcolm Hill-Bey has the pedigree. The 5-11 senior starred at Beasley Elementary, the grammar school that produced Derrick Rose. He was a highly-touted freshman and spent his first three seasons at Mount Carmel, transferring to Curie over the summer.
Hill-Bey isn’t starting for the Condors yet, but he was the key figure in the No. 3 Condors’ 60-52 win over No. 23 West Aurora in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.
“We weren’t prepared for him to score like that,” West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said.
Hill-Bey finished with 17 points, including seven in the final five minutes of the game that helped hold off a late run by the Blackhawks.
“Their offensive attack killed us,” Kerkman, “They are a little too quick for us.”
Jibreel Jackson led the Condors (10-0) with 18 points, shooting 4-for-6 from three-point range.
“We watched them yesterday and didn’t appear to have any outside shooters,” Kerkman said. “So it was our plan to force them to shoot from outside.”
West Aurora’s Juwan Starks played a tremendous game, scoring 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He finished 9-for-16 from the field. Spencer Thomas scored nine and Brandon Gossett added six points.
West Aurora center Josh McAuley, a 6-5 junior, held his own against Cliff Alexander, Curie’s 6-9 sophomore. McAuley blocked two of Alexander’s dunk attempts and helped hold him to six points and eight rebounds.
“He’s really coming along,” Kerkman said of McAuley. “I would like to see him play with more confidence on the offensive end though. You aren’t going to be able to score unless you shoot the ball.”
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment