Guard Zoom Diallo’s 26 leads 4A champion Curtis to double-digit win over Kentridge
The Curtis High School Vikings are on their way back to the Class 4A state playoffs.
Saturday night in University Place, the defending 4A state champions scored early and often against visiting Kentridge, and led by double digits much of the game on the way to a 74-59 victory in the opening round of the 4A West Central/Southwest district tournament.
The win — one week after the Vikings closed out a second consecutive 4A South Puget Sound League tournament title — clinches another trip to the 4A state regionals for the Vikings.
Where they are seeded in the 4A state bracket after district tournaments wrap up next weekend will ultimately decide if they are guaranteed a return trip to the Tacoma Dome before regionals even begin. The top eight seeds in each state bracket, as selected by committee, are assured at least one game at a tournament site regardless of result in the regional round — but it seems all but certain the Vikings will get a chance to defend their title the final week of the season.
“That’s always the goal to make it to the Dome,” Curtis guard Cinque Maxwell said. “Coach said before the game that, yeah everyone’s playoffs are starting, but not everyone has the opportunity to clinch a state run already, and we’ve already clinched it. So, that really means a lot.”
It didn’t take long for the Vikings to build the convincing lead they never lost in Saturday night’s victory over the Chargers.
Kentridge took the game’s first lead on an early basket from Elijah Cain, but five-star Vikings point guard Zoom Diallo answered on the next possession, and Curtis never trailed again.
A pair of free throws from Diallo with 4:53 to play in the first quarter gave the Vikings the lead they never lost, and opened a 13-2 run that helped Curtis pull away early.
“We wanted to come out defensively and set the tone, which I thought we did, and it led to some easy baskets,” Curtis coach Tim Kelly said.
The Vikings led by as many as 27 points with 3:11 to go in the first half on a 3-pointer from Bilal El Ghalemi. Curtis took a 46-24 advantage into the break.
Kentridge cut the lead as close as 13 points multiple times in the fourth quarter, including on a Jalon Blackwell basket with 38 seconds to play, but the Chargers never got closer.
Diallo scored a game-high 26 points for the Vikings, while Maxwell added 21 and Point Loma-bound guard Tyce Paulsen had 13.
Forward Alex Conner paced Kentridge with 22 points, while forward Dorian Thomas, an Arizona football signee, added 14 points and Blackwell had eight.
Kentridge (17-5) hosts Union (16-6) in a loser-out contest Wednesday. The Titans rolled past Rogers, 80-59, in an opening-round loser-out game Saturday.
Curtis (22-3) moves on to host 4A Greater St. Helens League champion Camas (17-5) — which posted a 75-57 win over Bellarmine Prep in the opening round Saturday night — in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in University Place.
The Vikings are now on a 10-game winning streak since a double-digit defeat against Olympia back in early January, which remains Curtis’ only in-state loss this season.
Curtis has won every contest since by at least 10 points — including a 63-48 win over Olympia last weekend in the 4A SPSL tournament title game — and continues to look ahead with two more district games and the state playoffs now on the horizon.
“We’re just always looking to move forward,” Maxwell said.
Olympia (21-4) and 4A North Puget Sound League champion Federal Way (21-1) meet in the other semifinals matchup at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, also at Curtis.
The Bears posted a 70-50 win over Tahoma on Friday night, and the Eagles routed Sumner, 83-45, to advance. Both programs have also secured at least an appearance in the regional round.
This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 10:33 PM.
