Curtis still finding ways to be the big boss of 4A SPSL boys basketball
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. - Senior guard Devin Whitten has never felt the stress of 4A SPSL boys basketball season quite like he is now.
But his two-time defending Class 4A champion Curtis Vikings keep finding ways to win games.
Whitten poured in a game-high 23 points, and the seventh-ranked Vikings recovered from a shaky final three minutes of the third quarter to put away No. 8 Sumner, 54-43, on Thursday night.
After visiting Sumner scored 11 consecutive points to end the third quarter to tie it up at 41-41, the Vikings answered on a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter - holding the Spartans scoreless for the first 5:41.
Eli Nordling paced Sumner with his team-high 14 points - eight coming in the third quarter.
Here are three takeaways from the Curtis-Sumner game:
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GRIND-IT-OUT CITY
Curtis built a 12-point lead with three minutes to go in the first half - and saw it whittled down immediately.
The Vikings led 41-30 after Whitten's short-range bucket, and watched as Sumner erased the entire deficit over the final 2:57.
It is a very different journey for the Vikings.
"We are not the same team - we have to work," Curtis coach Tim Kelly said. "We were better than everybody last year. We are not all that much better than anybody in our league, at least that is what I am seeing."
Added Whitten: "League (play) always went by super fast. But I was like, “Dang, this year, league is going kind of slow.’ It is because we’ve had to battle and grind out games. But I like this better. It is good to face adversity … and it will help us in the long run."
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CURTIS DUO STARS AGAIN
The reality is that for the Vikings to beat good teams, Whiiten and ninth grader Keaundre Morris have to carry the scoring load. The two combined for 37 of the team's 54 points.
On the team's recent holiday-tournament trip to California, the Vikings dropped all four games.
"They struggled in California - and we struggled," Kelly said. "So, it was good we had them respond like that tonight."
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IS SUMNER THE VIKINGS' TOP 4A SPSL THREAT?
So far this season, Curtis has 4A SPSL wins at Puyallup and Bellarmine Prep, and at home against Emerald Ridge and Sumner. The Vikings travel to league nemesis Olympia on Saturday.
Is this Sumner group the best bet to challenge the Vikings for the league crown?
Kelly conceded they the Spartans have been traditionally the most physical team that Curtis has faced in league - and this season is no exception. Sumner has five players who are 6-foot-4 and taller, led by junior Cooper Hartley and Nordling, who is 6-3.
"Against them, we've got to use our speed," Kelly said. "We've got to use our quickness."
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