XENIA — Simply put, Samari Curtis was even better than advertised here Tuesday. Curtis, a 6-4 senior guard headed to the University of Cincinnati next season, scored a school-record 52 points as his Xenia team blitzed Bellefontaine 90-55 in a non-league boys basketball game.
Bellefontaine’s Kyle Edu drives to the basket during Tuesday’s game at Xenia. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MATT HAMMOND)
The Chiefs drop to 4-14 on the season, while Xenia improves to 11-8.
Curtis came in averaging 33 points per game. He nearly hit that in the first half with 30 by halftime.
He finished the third quarter with 46. He took a brief break on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter before being inserted for about two additional minutes of action. That was enough time to add six more points.
He was pulled with 5:19 left after his record-breaking 52nd point.
“We threw a couple of things at him,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Calton. “We started off trying to face guard him, but that wasn’t successful. Then we tried to throw a couple of guys at him, and that wasn’t successful either.”