Boys Basketball: Devin Foster’s heroics lift Curie by North Chicago
Updated: February 6, 2012 7:42PM
Devin Foster scored five points in seven seconds in the final minute of the fourth quarter to force overtime, and Curie went on to beat North Chicago 88-80 Monday in a finale of the three-day Martin Luther King Dream Classic at Young.
Curie (14-1) looked like it was headed for its second loss until Foster and Jibreel Jackson bailed out the Condors.
Down 75-70 in the final minute, Jackson fired a cross-court pass to an open Foster who buried the three-ball to make it 75-73.
Jackson then stole the inbounds pass and fed Foster underneath for the game-tying layup with 38 seconds left.
North Chicago’s Aaron Simpson (33 points, 10 of 21 shooting) missed a three-pointer and Tyrone Linder missed an outside jumper in the closing seconds, and Curie couldn’t hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
But in overtime, Curie scored the first seven points to seize control for good.
“I don’t know what happened. It just got wild,” said Foster (29 points, eight rebounds) of the final minute of the fourth quarter. “I just kept thinking ‘I don’t want to lose.’”
North Chicago scored the game’s first 13 points and led 21-6 after eight minutes. But Curie had a 30-point second quarter against a fatigued Warhawk squad, as the starting five played virtually the entire first half.
The second half was close all the way, but North Chicago faded when key starters JaVairius Amos-Mays and Marzhon Bryant fouled out in the fourth quarter.
“We have to learn how to put teams away,” said North Chicago (12-3) coach Gerald Coleman. “We let them get back into it. That’s something we’ve struggled with all year.
“We fell totally apart when Amos-Mays and Marzhon fouled out.”
Kurt Hall had 16 points and eight rebounds for North Chicago. Bryant had 12 points, and Amos-Mays had 10 points and six boards.
For Curie, 6-9 sophomore Cliff Alexander had 20 points, 9 rebounds and six blocks. Jackson added 15 points.
“We knew North Chicago was a good team. They have very good coaching and a great group of kids,” said Curie coach Mike Oliver.
As for his team, Oliver was elated with the play of Foster, who didn’t start because he was late getting to the locker room before the game.
“Devin is our leader,” Oliver said. “He’s our scorer. That’s his job. He’s been doing that all year for us. He’s a big-time player.”
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