Went to UIC for the Chicago Public League’s City Basketball Championship game between Lincoln Park and Cure. Lincoln Park played hard as they always do but Curie is just too good, too talented and too well coached.
Condors 59, Lions 50.
The Public League does such a good job with this event. The place was packed. The light is good, not great but better than high school gyms. The CPS athletics staff makes it so easy for media to work. Maybe a little too inside baseball for most but I appreciate it.
There was a curiously large number of missed shots but that probably has to do with how physical the teams were playing. The refs called a lot of fouls. It’s hard for me to judge the officials’ calls. I mostly watch games through the lens of my cameras which don’t afford the widest view.
Mike Oliver had a much different view that I did yesterday. He was hot about all the fouls being called. I was sitting near the Curie bench and could see him riding the officials. He did it the entire game. So much so that it became a distraction. Maybe that helped his team, maybe not. I can’t say. But I got some good shots out of it.
Having seen Curie a bunch of times this year, I agree that the Condors are the third best team. Just slightly below Benet and DePaul Prep. That’s not to say they won’t be state as well as city champs. They may well be. They will have to get through Mount Carmel, St. Laurence, St. Ignatius, Kenwood and/or Whitney Young before possibly seeing H-F or Marist in the Super. Perfectly doable. But some great games to get that done.
Oh, and then there might be Benet or DePaul Prep waiting for Curie.
As for the Lincoln Park Lions, they are so much fun to watch. I interviewed Larry Harris after their loss to Whitney Young. Just a wonderful young man. He and his mates play as hard as any team I have seen. Coach Josh Anderson motivates like no other.
I spoke to Josh Anderson after the loss. He was remarkably positive.
“We achieved one of our goals,” he said, to reach the city championship. He was careful to add that their next goal was to beat Lane in the first game of 4A playoffs.
It’s the playoffs now.
