The box score for Marian Catholic will read that John Oliver scored two points.
But the senior post player played much bigger than that.
After seeing Providence star Miles Boykin score 17 points and grab seven rebounds in the first half of the teams’ regular-season meeting Feb. 11, Oliver was assigned to the Celtics senior in the regional title game. He delivered as Boykin was held to eight points and six rebounds.
That helped the Spartans, who trailed at halftime in the teams’ first meeting, to a commanding 20-point halftime lead. Marian went on to a 67-53 victory over the Celtics on Friday night for the Class 4A Plainfield Central Regional title.
Tyler Ulis led Marian with 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half. The victory was the 11th straight for the Spartans (26-2), who’ll meet Bloom, in the Thornton Sectional. Providence bows out at 14-15.
“Coach (Mike Taylor) told me to keep him under 10 points,” Oliver said of his defense on Boykin. “I take so much pride in my defense for my team. I accepted the challenge and believe I stepped up to it.
He certainly did, limiting Boykin to two points in the first half.
In the meantime Marian had eight different players score in the opening two quarters. Trailing 12-11, the Spartans closed the first quarter with a 12-2 burst over the final 2:49 to take the lead for good. Ahead 26-18, four different players scored in a 10-0 run as Marian extended to a 40-20 halftime lead.
Ki-Jana Crawford had 10 of his 14 points in the first half for Marian. Josh Cohn finished with 10 points and Christopher Austin added seven points for the Spartans, who forced 19 of Providence’s 20 turnovers over the first three quarters.
“It feels great to get this game,” Ulis said. “We came out and got a lot of steals. I think this is the best we’ve played in a while. John was assigned to Boykin and he was up to the challenge.”
“We wanted to stay aggressive and show them the type of defensive team we are,” Oliver said.
Jake Rost had 12 of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter for Providence, which outscored the Spartans 25-14 in the final eight minutes but never got closer than the final margin. Jack Brody had eight points and Nate Vejvoda seven for the Celtics.
“We had trouble getting shots and they hit shots,” Providence coach Tim Trendel said. “We wanted to make other guys besides Tyler Ulis make plays and hit shots early, and they did. Last time, they put John Oliver on Miles in the second half and he did the job there, too. He’s a great defender.”
