Streaking Puyallup boys down Rogers, tighten up 4A SPSL playoff race

The first few weeks of the basketball season, Puyallup High School boys coach Scott Campbell saw a team mostly made up of junior-varsity returners playing hesistant and out of sync.

And now?

“We are becoming a really tough-minded team,” Campbell said.

There is a reason why the 4A SPSL is so wacky — teams charge up and down the standings like fast-moving elevator cars.

And the Vikings are as hot as anybody, taking care of district rival Rogers, 82-69, in their own gymnasium on Wednesday night.

Puyallup (12-6, 9-5 in 4A SPSL) has now won seven of its past eight games to move into a tie for third with Olympia. The Vikings also ttrail the Rams (12-5, 9-4) by a half-game for second. Curtis clinched the league title with the Rogers’ loss.

Guard Jacob Holcomb scored a game-high 28 points, while Landon Neff added 21 for Puyallup, which never trailed in the game — and led by as many as 18 points in the first half.

But Rogers cut it to 67-62 on Jace Barrett’s 3-pointer with 4:44 remaining.

The biggest sequence came 80 second later, with the Vikings clinging to a seven-point lead.

With the shot clock winding down, Neff could not find an open shot, and lateraled the ball to Holcomb near the deep elbow on the left side.

“I was like, ‘OK, I have to shoot it,’” Holcomb said.

Holcomb’s fadeaway 3-pointer right before the shot clock expired hit nothing but net, and gave the VIkings a 72-62 lead.

Puyallup shot a blistering 58 percent from the floor (29 of 50). Holcomb canned half of the team’s 10 3-pointers, with four of them coming in the first quarter.

Part of the reason the Vikings are now hitting their stride is getting Holcomb and Neff fully integrated after a long football season, which forced them to miss some basketball activities.

“We are more focused, and we are not forcing things,” Holcomb said. “We have learned to trust teammates, and now we are playing how we usually play.”

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Streaking Puyallup boys down Rogers, tighten up 4A SPSL playoff race."