The second time around, the Curtis Vikings had an answer for 6-foot-9 Puyallup center Killian Larson.
After Larson pulled down 26 rebounds in Puyallup’s win over Curtis on Dec. 9, Curtis knew that couldn’t happen again.
Larson was held to seven rebounds Saturday at Curtis High, and Curtis came away with an 81-59 South Puget Sound League South Division victory.
Curtis had double the rebounds of Puyallup, 34-17.
“That was the big focus,” Curtis coach Tim Kelly said. “(Larson) had 26 rebounds and set an SPSL record the last time we played them, and we weren’t going to let him do that tonight.”
Curtis crashed the boards relentlessly throughout. Senior forward Stan Langlow had 17 rebounds – matching Puyallup’s team total.
“Our main intention was to box out, put a body on (Larson) on every play,” Langlow said.
Larson still got his points – a game-high 26 to be exact – but Puyallup fell behind by double digits early in the second quarter, and never recovered.
“Tonight, they had a lot of energy and we didn’t,” Puyallup coach Scott Campbell said. “They played great, they won all the loose balls, and we just didn’t have the same energy level that we had the first time we played them.”
Curtis took the lead late in the first quarter, getting back-to-back tip-ins by Langlow for an 18-15 lead.
The tip-ins started a 27-10 Curtis run that put the game out of reach. Curtis led 41-25 with two minutes to play before halftime, and the lead eventually ballooned to 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Curtis (12-3 overall, 8-2 SPSL South) handled Puyallup’s fullcourt press fairly easily, leading to baskets in transition. Senior point guard Darnell Williams scored 20 points, many coming on driving layups.
“Last time we turned it over a lot. This time we knew that if we handled the ball (in the backcourt) we could get numbers and get an advantage on the other side,” Kelly said.
Curtis won its seventh consecutive game while handing Puyallup its first SPSL loss of the season.
Puyallup (10-2, 7-1) joins Decatur as the only teams with one loss in the division. Puyallup holds the tiebreaker over Decatur since the Vikings beat the Gators two weeks ago.
The loss was the first for Puyallup against a Washington school. Puyallup’s only prior defeat was to Palm Springs (Calif.) at a holiday tournament in Alaska.
“I commend our guys who saw them as the top team in the league, and came out here tonight with something to prove,” Kelly said.
Senior Chad Rasmussen led Curtis with 21 points. Dominique Williams and Langlow each scored nine.
Senior Rob Pedicone added eight points for Puyallup.
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