About the only thing Curtis High School boys basketball coach Tim Kelly raised his voice for was to get his chance with the scissors.
In the past two seasons, by the time it was Kelly’s turn to climb the ladder and snip a piece of the nylon net, it was already off the rim.
By the time the fifth-ranked Vikings left the floor after their third consecutive Class 4A West Central-Southwest bi-district championship, Kelly was wearing the net like a garland.
On both ends, Curtis dominated from start to finish, walloping 10th-ranked Bellarmine Prep, 53-29, at the ShoWare Center in Kent on Monday night.
Dominic Robinson led all scorers with 19 points for the Vikings (23-2), who started the game making nine of their first 13 field goal tries.
It did not take long, either. The South Puget Sound League champions scored 17 unanswered points after the Lions held an early 6-2 lead, and they never looked back.
And as the Vikings’ guards dominated the action on both ends, all Kelly could do was sit or kneel on the sideline and watch. No screaming about sloppy play. No rolling his eyes over a silly turnover. That is how well this squad is playing.
“It’s almost perfect.” Robinson said.
Four blowout district victories, and Curtis will try to carry that over into the 4A regional tournament on Saturday when it meets Jefferson at Puyallup High School for a spot in the state tournament in the Tacoma Dome. Bellarmine Prep (16-8) earns the No. 2 seed and will play Arlington at that same site.
“I feel like everyone here wants it so bad,” Robinson said.
It’s so hard right now for followers of this program to nitpick about what Curtis isn’t doing. In terms of game-plan execution, Kelly compared this Vikings version to his 2001 and ’02 state-title squads at Lincoln High School.
“They’ve done what we’ve asked them to do,” Kelly said.
Offense got the Vikings started, but clearly Bellarmine Prep looked ragged. It had won a pair of close district games Friday and Saturday. The Lions’ legs were worn out.
“Looked that way,” Bellarmine Prep coach Bernie Salazar said. “Nervous and tight. … They really dominated us tonight.”
Bellarmine Prep’s regulars made just nine of 40 field goal attempts and were forced into 13 turnovers – 11 coming in the first half.
“We have been executing really well,” Kelly said. “Defense is our cup of tea, but we’ve spent the second half of the season on offensive execution.”
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