Timberline’s Brooklyn Hicks scores game-high 36 points, but pair of freshmen pace undefeated Curtis to comeback win
Ultimately, the night belonged to the freshmen.
Despite a huge effort from Timberline High School sophomore Brooklyn Hicks, the Curtis Vikings erased a 20-point second-half deficit, sent their nonleague boys basketball game into overtime with a buzzer-beating layup at the end of regulation and pulled out a 101-99 victory on the road in Lacey.
“For the second straight game, I thought we got outplayed,” Curtis coach Tim Kelly said. “But we managed to find a way to win. You give up 100 points, there’s not much defense being played. But somehow we found 101.”
For almost three quarters, this one looked like anything but a nail-biter.
The host Blazers steadily moved in front behind Hicks and some clutch 3-point shooting from Ahren Richards. Timberline led 20-14 after the first eight minutes, 49-35 at the half, and when Darrell Gipson scored inside and was fouled (on an assist from Hicks) with three minutes, 33 seconds left in the third quarter, held what seemed like an insurmountable 63-43 advantage.
But after Gipson completed his conventional three-point play by making the free throw, everything turned.
Curtis freshman Devin Whitten buried a 3-pointer from the far left corner with 3:25 to play in the quarter. From that moment until the 2:31 mark of the fourth quarter, Whitten and fellow freshman guard Zoom Diallo poured in 34 of the Vikings next 41 points during a 41-18 run that completely erased the deficit and staked Curtis to an 84-81 lead.
“Zoom in the second half was fantastic,” Timberline coach Allen Thomas said. “He had the will to win. And Whitten, he was money from the outside. They just wouldn’t go away. As I told our guys, that’s what a championship team looks like. That’s what a No. 1 team looks like.”
Whitten scored 28 of his team-high 35 points in the second half for Curtis. Diallo, who wreaked havoc on the Blazers defense by pushing the ball relentlessly in the second half, contributed 15 of his 19 points after the half.
Those performances offset Hicks, who poured in a game-high 36 for the Blazers.
Even with the big scoring numbers, Curtis still needed a play at the end of the fourth quarter to even get this one to overtime. With 34 seconds left, Hicks pulled up and made a short jumper to put the Blazers back in front, 89-88.
Diallo tried to split two Timberline defenders and get to the basket with just under 10 seconds to play, but was stripped of the ball. Richards grabbed the steal and was fouled with 5.4 seconds on the clock.
Richards missed the first free throw, then made the second after a Curtis timeout.
The Vikings inbounded the ball to Diallo, who raced up the right sideline, past two defenders and found an open avenue to the basket. He released the ball at the rim and it banked off the backboard and in as the buzzer sounded, tying the game at 90-90.
Timberline took the initial lead in overtime on a Gipson layup. But Tyce Paulsen responded with an off-balance leaner. The game still was tied, 97-97, with 1:59 left in overtime, but Trent Williams and Paulsen made shots down the stretch for the victory.
It was the second overtime victory in a row for Curtis, which beat Bellarmine Prep in overtime on Saturday.
“We are learning on the fly,” Kelly said. “They got way too many easy things tonight. We didn’t get back in transition. The defense I thought was really poor. But we’re getting a chance to learn.”
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 10:25 PM.