‘We were going to have to grind it.’ Patience, Paulsen’s late heroics lift Curtis to 4A quarterfinals
Curtis High School senior Zack Paulsen has played his entire senior season with a nagging ankle injury.
But, the Seattle Pacific signee made this much clear Wednesday morning in the Tacoma Dome — he’s not stopping now.
Paulsen poured in a game-high 19 points and made two clutch baskets in the final two minutes to lift the seventh-seeded Vikings past No. 10 Glacier Peak, 46-43, in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament.
“We had to win the game,” Paulsen said. “This means more than anything to me. We’re here. This is my last chance. I’ve been here four years, and I’m trying to come out with one, so anything we have to do to win, I’m going to play.”
Paulsen drove into the lane and converted the final go-ahead layup with one minute, 28 seconds to play to give Curtis a 44-43 advantage.
Moments later, he scooped up a loose ball after it bounced off of Glacier Peak forward Evan Mannes’ hands, and ran nearly the length of the floor to push the Vikings’ lead to a slightly more comfortable three points with 43.4 seconds remaining.
“I saw the ball pop out, and we were up one (point), but I figured I had the opportunity,” Paulsen said. “There was like 40 seconds left, so I took it, put us up three. Being down three with 40 seconds left, is way harder than being down one.”
Glacier Peak (15-8) missed two 3-point attempts during its final two possessions, and Curtis (20-6) escaped with the narrow win, advancing to the state quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive season, and ending the Grizzlies’ season.
In those final moments, after the Vikings had trailed by one or two possessions most of the way, Curtis coach Tim Kelly wasn’t surprised it was Paulsen — the two-time 4A SPSL MVP — who came up big.
“He’s always the guy who is going to make a play,” Kelly said.
Paulsen ignited the Vikings’ offense early, connecting for nine of his points — including a stretch of three baskets on three consecutive possessions — in the first quarter.
He had 12 points entering the break to give the Vikings a 23-22 advantage, but Curtis made just two field goals in the third quarter.
And, though the Grizzlies never led by more than four points in the second half, it at times seemed like the Vikings’ season could slip away.
“We just came together,” Paulsen said. “We talked as a team. I have great guys on my team. We’re a family, so, when we get down and shots aren’t falling, we just have to keep the positivity up and it stayed up, so we made enough plays to win.”
Curtis shot 15 of 46 from the floor. And, though the Grizzlies shot just a slightly better 17 of 44, Brayden Quantrille gave them a 43-42 edge with 2:17 remaining. Then came Paulsen’s late heroics.
“It seemed like they kept us scoreless,” Kelly said. “We took some bad shots, we had poor shot selection, and we kept giving up some easy shots.
“That’s how they want to play. They want to play a game in the 40s and 50s, and if we didn’t get it going — which I thought we tried early, and didn’t — we were going to have to grind it. We found a way. On Day 1, you have to find a way to get to Day 2.”
Mannes scored a team-high 18 points for the Grizzlies. No other scorer from either team reached double figures.
NO. 10 GLACIER PEAK | 15 | 7 | 11 | 10 | — | 43 |
NO. 7 CURTIS | 13 | 10 | 7 | 16 | — | 46 |
TEAM STATISTICS
GP – Shooting: 17 of 44 (38.6 percent). Free throws: 5 of 12 (41.7). Turnovers: 20.
C – Shooting: 15 of 46 (32.6 percent). Free throws: 14 of 24 (58.3). Turnovers 7.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
GP – Brayden Quantrille 6, Fletcher Douglas 5, Bradyen Corwin 8, Evan Mannes 18, Noah Forman 4, Cedric Jones 2.
C – Zack Paulsen 19, Jared Franklin 8, Solomon McGinnis 9, Maceo Lewis 8, Isaac Morrow 2.
