Prep roundup: Paulsen’s go-ahead layup lifts Curtis in final seconds; Bellarmine runs past Rogers; Wilson’s Chard swims state-qualifying time

Boys Basketball

Top Performer: Landen Neff, Puyallup

Scored 26 points in 76-38 win over Graham-Kapowsin

Curtis 48, Olympia 46: Curtis High School standout Zack Paulsen converted a layup with 5.3 seconds to play, and the Vikings escaped with a win Tuesday night in University Place.

Paulsen scored a game-high 20 points for the Vikings, who remain in first place in the 4A SPSL standings after the narrow 48-46 win over Olympia.

The Bears were in position late to hand Curtis its second loss in league play, but Vikings’ coach Tim Kelly called timeout with 15.3 seconds remaining, and the score knotted at 46-46, to draw up what turned into the game-winning play.

“Last week against Puyallup he drew up the same play,” Paulsen said. “We were in the same position — tie game, 10 seconds left — and we didn’t execute it. So he said, ‘Alright, we have another chance. We’re going to come back and do it again.’

“He wanted us to wait, so they didn’t have that much time to score. We were going to act like we were going to do a handoff, and we were going to backdoor when we’re doing action on the other side. It should have been an open layup, and it was, and that’s how we won.”

Olympia then called timeout to counter, and Ethan Gahm took the ball the length of the court, but couldn’t convert a contested layup as time expired.

Curtis (11-5, 11-1 4A SPSL) has now won four of its last five games after losing four straight during the holiday break, and holds a one-game lead over Rogers atop the league. It inched closer toward its fourth consecutive 4A SPSL title with second-place Rogers losing to Bellarmine Prep with four league games to go.

Emerald Ridge 58, South Kitsap 54: Despite Deante Ward scoring 23 points, the Wolves faltered and the Jaguars came back from a 43-34 deficit entering the final period.

All game long, the Wolves had the upper hand against the Jaguars as three players were en route to scoring in double digits, including Ward’s big night.

But in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars came roaring back as four players reached double-digit scoring. Led by Chris Heads’ 15 points, the Jaguars outscored the Wolves 24-11 in the final quarter to claim the win.

Deshawne Riddick, Tyler Matthew, and Jerry Hayes were the other Jaguars to reach double-digit scoring, as Riddick had 13, Matthew had 12 and Hayes had 10.

Outside of Ward, the Wolves had both Jackson Kambich and Kyler Kelso score 12 points each.

Foster 53, White River 43: A balanced offense and the game’s high scorer led to a victory for the Bulldogs over the Hornets.

Jalen Fayson led all scored with 23 points, and he had plenty of help too. Teammates Nyel Hair scored 10, and Lemuel Cook Armstrong-Harris scored 11 to help carry the Foster offense.

Two Hornets also reached double digits in Joe Flanigan and Brandon Howard, scoring 13 and 10 points respectively. However, they couldn’t keep up with the Bulldogs as they pulled away in the second half.

Bellarmine Prep 56, Rogers 43: The Lions opened the game with a 17-6 run and never looked back against the Rams.

Rogers made it a close game by tightening the gap to six points at the end of the third quarter. However, the Lions poured it on late and ensured their victory.

Charles Elzie scored was Bellarmine’s leading scorer with 18 points, Jaylen Scott had 14 and Garrett Horner had 13.

The Rams couldn’t keep up as James Baker was their leading scorer with 12 points. Rogers now trails Curtis by two games in the 4A SPSL standings with four games remaining. Bellarmine also trails by two games, but Rogers has a win over Curtis.

Puyallup 76, Graham-Kapowsin 38: The Vikings doubled the offensive output against the Eagles all thanks to their leading scorer, Landen Neff.

Neff carried the Puyallup offense with 26 points.

The Eagles couldn’t get much going as they scored 26 of their points in the first half. Tre Mason was their leading scorer with 12 points.

Girls Basketball

Top Performer: Katy Cook, Franklin Pierce

Scored 17 points with 10 rebounds in 46-39 win against Lindbergh

Franklin Pierce 46, Lindbergh 39: The Cardinals have battled all season long, and their win over the Eagles was no different.

After Franklin Pierce built a decent lead in the first quarter, both teams traded points for the next two quarters. But, as they often do, the Cardinals relied on their leading scorer, Katy Cook, to secure the win. She finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Ashleigh Maynard had 13.

“This was a real battle back and forth,” Franklin Pierce coach Marcus Disney said. “We went up and they fought back, and it was like that until the end.”

In the end, the Cardinals had Cook, Jasmyne Sims, and Paradise Dorrough all with 10 rebounds or more in the win.

Though the season has been a bit of a grind thus far for the Cardinals (6-10; 5-5 2A SPSL Mountain), Disney said he has a number of players he can always count on in crucial moments.

“It's pretty comforting to have them on the floor,” Disney said. “The fact that all of them take pride in rebounding has been very good for us.”

South Kitsap 54, Emerald Ridge 51: The fourth quarter doesn’t look like much in the box score, but it was more than enough for the Wolves to earn the win.

The win snapped a streak where South Kitsap has lost four of its last five games.

The Wolves relied heavily on senior forward Kaylee McEdward, who finished with 24 points in the win. Sammie McGinty and Hailey Wilson led the Jaguars with 12 points each.

Boys Swimming

Top Performer: Evan Chard, Wilson

Won three events in win over Gig Harbor

Wilson 93, Gig Harbor 83: The Rams edged the Tides thanks to the state qualifying performance of Evan Chard.

Chard was a winner in three events, but the biggest win came in the 100 backstroke as he qualified for state. It's required for swimmers to meet the time of 56.50 seconds in order to qualify for state in that event. Chard barely finished under that mark as his final time was 55.59 seconds.

He was also a winner in the 200 medley relay and the 200 individual medley.

The Tides were led by Jared Doris, a winner in four events. Although Doris didn’t break any state qualifying times, he still dominated in the freestyle. He won in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

Timberline 146, Mount Tahoma 32: The Blazers took all but one event in their dominant performance against the T-Birds.

Leading the way was Andy Lin, a winner in four events.

Lin finished first in the 200 medley relay, 50 free, 100 back and 400 relay, showcasing that he has versatile talent in all the techniques.

The lone winner for the T-Birds was Marcus Larsen finishing with a time of 1:06.17 in the 100 butterfly.

North Thurston 136, Lakes 50: Jeffrey Harn just missed the state cutoff for the 100 backstroke as the Rams easily handled the Lancers.

The qualifying time in the state for the 100 back is 56.50 seconds and Harn finished just 0.09 seconds after. However, he was a winner in four events in the meet including the 200 medley relay, the 200 freestyle, and the 400 free relay.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 12:35 AM with the headline "Prep roundup: Paulsen’s go-ahead layup lifts Curtis in final seconds; Bellarmine runs past Rogers; Wilson’s Chard swims state-qualifying time."