UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Over the holiday break the Curtis boy's basketball team traveled to California and placed third in a prestigious national tournament.
The Vikings team is loaded with superstars and one of the winningest coaches in the state.
It was one of the most thrilling state championship games in decades. With 29 seconds to play in overtime, Curtis' Tyce Paulsen got a steal and the Vikings beat undefeated Mt. Si for the 2022 4A title.
"We like to stay humble about it but going into that game we thought we were going to win, we worked hard all season. But yeah, it was a huge win for us," says senior Tyce Paulsen.
Paulsen and junior Zoom Diallo grew up watching Curtis. Their older brothers played for the Vikings. So winning the championship was extra rewarding.
"I hugged Tyce, because it meant a lot because you know, growing up, Curtis would always fall short. And our older brothers would always fall short. So it meant something to us, you know, go get it for them and go get it for Coach Kelly," says junior Zoom Diallo.
Tim Kelly is now in his 30th year of coaching. He's won 4 state championships.
"Playing the game correctly to me is still a lot of fundamentals, playing hard, playing as a team, that's the whole thing, team first, before all the individual things. That's the great thing about some of the success we've had, and we've had a lot of it and it has been team success. Now we have some good individuals, but they bought into our team system," Kelly said.
Good individuals may be an understatement. There are six or seven players from Curtis that will play at the next level. Tyce Paulsen is one of the best pure shooters in the state and is headed to Pt. Loma next season.
"You can let that boy catch, or he's gonna get a shot off. He's a good shot creator. He can get a shot off whenever," says Diallo.
Diallo is not only considered the best player in the state, he's one of the best in the country.
"Everything makes him good, obviously, I think when he gets into his spots and being able to make a shot and and find his teammates, it's a big deal," says Paulsen. The 6'4 5-star point guard is the second best point guard in the nation according to 247 sports.
"He just plays with a pace that he doesn't get rattled. It looks like he's not going hard all the time, but he is," says Kelly.
As a sophomore, Zoom averaged nearly 18 points a game.
"He can blow by people, but then again he can get into the lane and the game slows down for him and you know guys will jump by him and he has this boom, boom step and he's laying the ball in, because they've flown by him, he's become a lot better at shooting the ball. He's constantly improving his game to an elite level and he's a worker too," says Kelly.
"I still get up in the morning just to go workout. So, just stuff like that. It's not easy. Like Coach Kelly always said, if it feels easy, you know, everybody would do it. So it's not easy. Sometimes you've got to separate yourself from others. I'm willing to do that," says Diallo.
Diallo has received offers from dozens of schools including; Kansas, UCLA, Arizona and Gonzaga, but the main goal is, "get to the NBA you know, stay for a good amount of years, get that second contract and have an impact on other kids and other players," he said.
A second state title would be nice too, he added.