The Curtis Vikings are now officially in control of the South Puget Sound League South Division.
The Vikings ran over the Decatur Gators Tuesday night, 70-58, in a battle for the top spot in the SPSL South. The win, on Decatur’s home court, moved Curtis top 5-0 in the South and 6-0 overall and leaves them as the lone unbeaten in the division. The loss drops the fifth-ranked Gators to 4-1 in the South and 5-1 overall.
The young Vikings have now beaten both of the preseason favorites to win the SPSL South Division title in impressive fashion — Decatur and Beamer. Curtis downed Beamer, 80-60, last week.
The game started on a good note for the Gators. Decatur rolled out to an early 18-13 lead after a layup by Terrance Peters with 17 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
But it was all Curtis from that point on. The Vikings outscored the Gators 23-7 during the rest of the first half to take a commanding 36-25 lead into the locker room.
And Curtis has the Cooks twin to thank for their impressive second quarter, which included separate runs of 8-0 and 6-0. Juniors Patrick and James Cooks combined to score 18 points during the quarter.
Decatur did, however, come out with some fire in the second half. The Gators opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run to cut the Curtis lead to 40-38 on layup by Jordan McCloud with 3:59 left in the period.
But the Vikings’ lone senior starter, Dominique Williams, buried a huge 3-pointer on Curtis’ next possession and ended the third quarter with a five-point lead, 47-42.
Decatur, led by McCloud, got the Vikings’ lead down to four points at 51-47, but that was as close as it would get during the fourth quarter. McCloud finished the game with 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Gators, including 13 points in the second half. Peters added 15 points, Jerron Smith scored 11 and Terrell Williams chipped in 10 points for Decatur.
Junior Devonte Lacy led the Vikings with 19 points, Williams added 10 and Darius Johnson-Wilson finished with 15 points.
The Gators will travel to Bethel on Friday (Dec. 18) for their final SPSL South game before the Christmas break. Decatur will host the Gator Holiday Classic on Dec. 29-30. The tournament will include four teams.
In other boys basketball action:
• at Federal Way 97, Auburn 66 — The top-ranked Eagles (5-0 overall, 4-0 in SPSL North) remained unbeaten with a 29-point win over the Auburn Trojans Tuesday night. Federal Way had four players score in double figures, led by the 25 points and 12 rebounds of senior Cole Dickerson. Isiah Umipig finished with 18, Jerry Duckworth chipped in 12 and senior Robert Christopher added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles.
Federal Way jumped out to a 26-13 lead after the first quarter and cruised the rest of the way. Auburn (2-3) was led by the 27 points of Kevin Henderson.
• at Beamer 69, Bethel 34 — The Titans got back on track with a blowout of the Bethel Braves Tuesday night at Beamer. Senior Kevin Davis led four Titans in double figures with 18 points. Max Aficiuc finished with 13, Napa Mefi had 11 and Terelle Loggins tallied 10 points for Beamer, who moved to 3-1 in the SPSL South.
The Titans outscored Bethel 34-9 during the first and third quarters Tuesday night.
• at Jefferson 65, Kentwood 37 — The Raiders ended a three-game losing streak in the SPSL North Division with a blowout win over the Kentwood Conquerors at home Tuesday night. The eighth-ranked Conquerors were playing without UCLA-bound center Josh Smith, who is nursing a knee injury.
The Raiders (4-3 overall, 2-3 in the North) outscored Kentwood 50-25 during the second, third and fourth quarters.
Jefferson had four players score in double figures, led by the 16 points of senior guard Jeff Brigham, who is averaging 19.6 points a game this season after playing on the Raiders’ junior varsity last year. Spencer Hicks finished with 15, Justin Lanier had 14 and Eric Radford chipped in 12 for TJ Tuesday.
