O’Brien: Curie takes down Jeremiah Tilmon, East St. Louis

SHARE O’Brien: Curie takes down Jeremiah Tilmon, East St. Louis
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Curie junior Tyree Martin guards East St. Louis center Jeremiah Tilmon. Worsom Robinson/ For Sun-Times

East St. Louis big man Jeremiah Tilmon, who signed with Illinois last month, was the star attraction in the Chicago Elite Classic at the UIC Pavilion on Friday. He and the Flyers were matched up against Curie and its pair of 6-8 twins, Treavon and Tyree Martin.

The matchup barely materialized. Tilmon was in foul trouble throughout the game and fouled out with 3:06 to play. He sat the majority of the third quarter after picking up a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk.

“He got a couple of fouls [called on him] that were questionable,” Curie coach Mike Oliver said. “When a guy that good comes all the way from East St. Louis and you make calls like that it kind of takes away from the game.”

Curie won 63-53. The Condors took control of the game with a 17-3 run in the third quarter while Tilmon was on the bench.

“[Tilmon] is the real deal but you take him out and that is basically the game,” Treavon Martin said. “They don’t have anyone else that is going to step up.”

Tilmon finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and a block for the Flyers (2-2).

“I don’t feel like [the fouls] should have been called but stuff happens, I just have to live through it and keep my head,” Tilmon said. “That was a great team, they play well together. I feel like we could have played better. They have the two twins on the team and they have some good shooters.”

Treavon Martin had four points and seven rebounds and Tyree Martin added two points, seven boards and a block of Tilmon.

“Tilmon is a handful,” Oliver said. “I think we did a good job of frustrating him. They were really looking forward to it, to measure up where they are at. I told the guys he’s a real good player and he’s going to Illinois for a reason, he’s probably the best player in the state right now.”

Allante Pickens led the Condors (3-0) with 17 points and Terry Smith Jr. added 15. Elijah Joiner scored 11.

“Sloppy, but a win,” Oliver said. “We had some energy in the second half, put the press on and caused some turnovers. Overall we are still looking for guys to close out. We were up 13 points and we are still jacking threes so we have to get better with that.”

Tilmon caused a state-wide stir in early November when he didn’t sign with Illinois on the first day of the early signing period. He eventually signed on the last day of the period.

“I lot of weight is lifted off my shoulders,” Tilmon said. “I was stressing a lot, everybody was still calling. It felt like my recruitment was never over. But now that I’ve signed everyone has left me alone. So I’m ok now.”

Curie will board a bus at 6 a.m. Saturday morning to drive to Benton, Ky. to play in the Marshall County Shootout against Belleville Althoff and star guard Jordan Goodwin. It’s a matchup of last season’s Class 4A and Class 3A state champions.

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