Extra Points: Burst from Burse Leads Bengals

As Oak Forest senior basketball player Marcus Burse kept his team in the game during its first-half struggles in a 62-58 loss to Chicago Fenger on Monday night in play at the Class 3A Rich East Regional, his transformation was made complete.

Burse scored 11 of Oak Forest's first 19 points and showed off his leadership skills in his final high school basketball game.

Anyone who saw where he was at during his freshman year would have been amazed to see how far he has come.  

Despite losing in the opening round of the playoffs to the Titans, Burse led the Bengals with a game-high 18 points and a bit of his own drive.

“I was the captain of the team,” he said.  “I learned to show by example because nobody else is going to do it if you don’t do it.”

Burse was in the Bengals basketball program all four years, but he had quite a roller-coaster career.

“I started out on the 'B' team as a freshman," he said. "They said I wasn’t going to amount to much. Sophomore year, I was benched and junior year I rode the bench.”

Burse credits a great summer between his junior and senior year for his sudden turnaround.

“I developed at summer camp and everywhere else I played,” he said.  “I joined the traveling basketball team, developed and could feel myself getting better and better.”

Burse said earning all-tournament honors at the Oak Lawn Thanksgiving Tournament was the highlight of his season. He hopes to continue playing basketball after high school.

Despite not seeing great team success on the court during this season, just six wins, Burse knows he has learned attributes that will benefit him the rest of his life.

“My coaches taught me that hard work can beat out skill and that it will get you further in life than just natural talent.”  

 That kind of attitude could propel him to the next level.

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