12/17/2022

(University Place, WA) The Curtis Winter Classic was held this past Thursday through Saturday and was a true 8 team “quarterfinal” state tournament style format. Mt Spokane was the defending Champion and back to try and become the 1st back-to-back Champion. The Wildcats beat the tournament host Curtis. The Vikings were looking to revenge that loss and become the 1st 2-time winner of their namesake tournament.

This year there were invading teams from other states with 2 coming from Idaho and 1 from Oregon. In the end the highly touted Lake City, Idaho team swooped in to capture the Championship. Below is coverage of all 12 games with re-caps, interviews, photo galleries and game highlights. All 12 games were streamed live with an ESN broadcast crew and full replays are available on the subscription platform the NFHS. Here is a link to the page to where all the replays are posted: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/affiliates/eli-sports-network

Before we get to the all the coverage we want to let everyone know any pictures or interviews or highlights we have here on the ESN site is available for you to use, copy and keep with no permission necessary as long as it is for your personal use. If you want to use it for other purposes please contact us for permission at: paulbelisportsnetwork@gmail.com

Congratulations to all teams it was a lot of fun for our crew to be there and live stream this event with 12 games of tremendous effort and basketball. And a special thanks to Curtis Head Coach Tim Kelly and Athletic Director Suzanne Vick for inviting us to be there and for their great hospitality. 

That all being said, please enjoy our coverage of the 2022 Curtis Winter Classic!

Day 3

Championship Game
Lake City 77, Curtis 65

In a game featuring two of the best undefeated basketball teams in the Northwest, it was the visiting Lake City Timberwolves of Coeur d’Alene Idaho who ended the Curtis Vikings 31-game winning streak, by racing to a huge 1st quarter lead and holding off a Vikings 3rd quarter rally to win the 2022 Curtis Winter Classic Championship.

The 1st quarter was a dream start for Lake City and a nightmare beginning for a Curtis team playing their 4th game in 4 days, as the T-Wolves sprinted out of the gates to a shocking 29-11 1st quarter lead where they dominated the quarter on both sides of the ball. One of the big differences in the game was the dominance Lake City had inside,  the T-Wolves outscored the Vikings 46-38 in the paint and had twice as many free throw points with Lake City hitting 17 to Curtis’s 6.

Lake City star Blake Buchanan told ESN in a previous interview that he expects to dominate every game, and that is what the 6’11 post player did as he scored his tournament high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting, adding 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal to earn the ESN MVP award. Kolton Mitchell had another fantastic game for the Timberwolves from the guard position with 26 points on 9 of 19 shooting and salted the game away by knocking down 7 of 8 free throw attempts to thwart the Curtis comeback attempt.

After trailing by 17 points after the 1st quarter, Curtis outscored Lake City in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters with the Vikings winning the 2nd period 14-9 to cut the Lake City halftime lead to 38-25. Mitchell also tied the team high in rebounds with 8 and had an assist and steal. Reese Strawn knocked down 6 points with a 3 ball and added 2 assists. Deacon Kiesbuy hit for 5 points and grabbed 4 boards.

Curtis came out firing in the 3rd quarter and completely dominated Lake City, outscoring the T-Wolves 26-15 in that quarter to get the Vikings within 2 points entering the 4th quarter at 53-51. With the game on the line, Lake City relied on their veteran leaders in Buchanan and Mitchell to take control of the game and bring home the championship trophy to Coeur d’Alene.

Lake City made Curtis star guard Zoom Diallo work hard for every basket, as the Junior 5-star recruit was held to his tournament low of 17 points on 8 of 20 shooting but did have a team high 7 assists. Cinque Maxwell earned ESN player MVP honors for Curtis for taking on the challenge of defending Buchanan despite a significant height advantage and also chipping in 14 points for the Vikings. Tyce Paulsen also overcame a slow offensive start for Curtis with 13 points, almost all of which were in the 2nd half including a game high 3-3 pointers. Devin Whitten added 12 points for the Vikings. Sophomore Xavier Ahrens had a solid game for the Vikings leading the team in rebounds with 6 and also scored 5 points.

Other individual performances and stats to note for the Timberwolves includes 9 points from Nathan Hocking and 8 points from Zach Johnson both also had 2 rebounds. Buchanan 

In some other interesting team numbers, Curtis had 12 more shots than Lake City with 60 to Lake City’s 48, however Lake City had two more made baskets with 28 to Curtis’s 26 despite less attempts. Lake City out rebounded Curtis 33-23, and the Vikings failed to get a single offensive rebound for the first time this season. The T-Wolves also went 17 for 22 from the free throw line compared to 6 for 7 for the Vikings.

The win for Lake City improves the Timberwolves record to 7-0 and will put their undefeated record on the line at home against 3-5 North Central of Spokane on Tuesday.  Curtis will be back at it as they will face 4A SPSL rival Emerald Ridge on Monday before a showdown with  5-0 3A power O’Dea on Wed to end the calendar year.

Stats
Scoring
Lake City: Mitchell 26, Buchanan 23, Hocking 9, Johnson 8, Strawn 6, Kiesbuy 5
Curtis: Diallo 17, Maxwell 14, Paulsen 13, Whitten 12, Ahrens 5, Johnson 4
Rebounds
Lake City: Buchanan 8, Mitchell 8, Kiesbuy 4, Hocking 2, Johnson 2
Curtis: Ahrens 6, Diallo 4, Maxwell 3, Paulsen 2, Johnson 2, Whitten 1, El Ghameni 1

Game MVP Blake Buchanan talks with ESN

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3rd/5th Place Game
Mt Spokane 72, Central Catholic 62

After losing to the host team Curtis on Friday night in the semifinals the hope of defending their Curtis Winter Classic Championship was over. What they didn’t want to do is to head back to Spokane on a 2 game losing streak. They quickly jumped on the Central Catholic Rams who dropped their semifinal to the highly touted Lake City squad from Idaho. 

It was the Wildcats who made the first move jumping out to a 24-12 lead. Central Catholic would find their rhythm in the 2nd and cut that 12 point lead in half to 6 trailing 38-34.

Mt Spokane’s Maverick Sanders who was held to just 9 points the night before had that and more with 11 along with Drew Rayment. Nalu Vargas was limited to just 3 points in the semifinal game and was back on track with 8 in the 1st half. Isaac Carr for the Rams also had a rough Friday night but was back at it leading CC with 12 and Marley Zeller right behind with 8 points.

Central Catholic continued that momentum in the 3rd and made up all of that early deficit with a 19-13 run to even the game at 51 going into the final 8 minutes. The Wildcats decided at this point they would not be denied and finished with a flurry outscoring the Rams 21-11 to pull away and secure 3rd place. 

Mount Spokane was led by Sanders with 18 and 7 boards while Drew Rayment was right behind with 17 and Nalu Vargas also had 17 with 3 shots behind the arc. Ryan Lafferty also in double figures with 14 and 6 rebounds and filled out an impressive stat line with 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Central Catholic was led by 3 with Nazier Paschal , Marley Zeller and Isaac Carr all had 15. Paschal led with 5 rebounds while Zeller picked off 4. Zeller also had 4 steals.  The Rams had to settle for the 5th place trophy.

The game MVP’s went to Mt Spokane’s Maverick Sanders and to the Rams Nazier Paschal.

Stats
Scoring
Mt Spokane: Sanders 18, Rayment 17, Vargas 17, Lafferty 14, Travis 4, Dickau 2
Central Catholic: N Paschal 15, Zeller 15, Carr 15, Z Paschal 9, Thompson 4, Angelo 3, Berry 1
Rebounds
Mt Spokane: Sanders 7, Lafferty 6, Rayment 3, Vargas 3, Smith 2, Williams 1
Central Catholic: N Paschal 6, Zeller 4, Scott 4, Carr 3, Angelo 3, Thompson 2, Z Paschal 1

Mt Spokane’s Maverick Sanders talks with ESN

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4th/6th Place Game
Kentridge 77, Timberline 72

Timberline’s Brooklyn Hicks set the record on Friday for most points scored in a game in the Curtis Winter Classic with 42 beating the old record of 38 held by Landon Ratliffe of Richland from 2015. With his 18 from day 1 he had 50 points for the tournament which tied him for 19th for total points after just 2 days. He would need another herculean effort to top the 95 points put up by Ashanti Potts-Woods of Curtis from 2015 to top the list. I really good game with 20 or so would put him in the top 10. A bad game and he would move up a little bit and still have the individual record.

Hicks was not interested in having a bad or just good game as he went off again tying the old single game record of 38 and taking the top spot with 98 total points or averaging 32.7 per game. Hicks was fired up after breaking the individual record with 42 because the Blazers won. Even though he had 38 and broke the all time record he was not in quite the same mood because the Kentridge Chargers did allow him to put up big numbers but they did enough to stalemate the rest of the Blazers to pull off a 5 point win. In fact, we talked with Hicks well after the game and he did not know he had broken the record. He said it was nice but not at the expense of a loss.

The Chargers led 41-34 at the half and the Blazers pulled within 2 down 56-54 after 3 and then took as much as a 5 point lead in the 4th but the Chargers dug deep and kept coming back. They came up with some key turnovers late in the game and pulled away for the win to grab 4th place.

Kentridge put together their best effort of the tournament with a well rounded effort led by Alex Conner’s 24 points. Jamarri Harris had another big game for the Chargers with 15, Elijah Cain had 11 and Jalon Blackwell also hit double figures with 10. Conner, Cain and Xzavier Randhawa each had 4 rebounds, Randhawa and Cain also had 3 assists each.

For Timberline Hicks finished with 38 points and hit the double-double with 11 boards. Darrell Gipson had 13 and 5 boards with 3 steals and Kenyon Simmons with 11 points.

Kentridge claimed 4th place and the Blazers settled for 6th. Our MVP’s went to Alex Conner for Kentridge and Brooklyn Hicks.

Stats
Scoring
Kentridge: Conner 24, Harris 15, Cain 11, Blackwell 10, X Randhawa 7, D Randhawa 7, Henao 3
Timberline: Hicks 38, Gipson 13, Simmons 11, Ragland 6, A Tichenor 3, Taufete’e 1
Rebounds
Kentridge: Conner 4, X Randhawa 4, Cain 4, D Randhawa 3, Harris 3, 
Timberline: Hicks 11, Gipson 5, Ragland 4, A Tichenor 3, Simmons 1

Alex Conner from Kentridge talks with ESN

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7th/8th Place Game
Post Falls 69, Kamiak 51

The Post Falls Trojans were looking for their 1st win of the season in their final game at the Curtis Winter Classic and they were facing a hungry Kamiak team trying to get back in the win column themselves as both teams dropped their opening 2 games over the past 2 days.

The Knights got off to a fast start and took a 13-11 lead into the 2nd quarter as Josiah Pierre led the way scoring from the inside almost at will. The Trojans held tough and trailed by just 2 and kept the rest of the Knights quiet when they kicked their offense into gear adding 15 while holding Kamiak to just 8 and took a 26-21 lead in at the break.

Tyras Blake led the Trojans with 10 and Neil McCarthy knocked down 7 off the bench. Pierre led the Knights with 11, Luke Strand hit a 3 to keep Kamiak close.

In the 2nd half after trailing 47-38 after 3, the Knights made a nice run to pull within 1 point of Post Falls. Josiah Pierre went off in the 2nd half with 19 to finish with 30 but also got some help from Jaytin Hara scoring all 6 of his in the 2nd half and Max Rust hit 5 of his 7.

But the Trojans had the answer and pulled away for the comfortable win in the end. Blake continued to drop shots finishing with 19 while McCarty had 18. Conner Carver added 3 long balls from behind the arch and Asher Bowie ground out 8 from the paint. Blake and Bowie each added 5 boards, Carver led with 4 assists and Alexander Shields picked off 3 steals. 

For the Knights, Josiah Pierre finished with 30 along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Max Rust finished with 7 and Chance Loudenback had 7 rebounds.

Our MVP for Post Falls went to Tyras Blake and for the Knights Josiah Pierre. Post Falls finished with the 7th place trophy and Kamiak took 8th.

Stats
Scoring
Post Falls: Blake 19, McCarthy 18, Carver 9, Bowie 8, Shields 6, Ostlund 4, McLean 3, Cameron 2
Kamiak: J. Pierre 30, Rust 7, Hara 6, Strand 3, Loudenback 2, Shubert 2, E Pierre 1
Rebounds
Post Falls: Blake 5, Bowie 5, Carver 4, McCarthy 4, McLean 2, Ostlund 2, Cameron 1, Shields 1, Anderson 1
Kamiak: Loudenback 7, J Pierre 6, E Pierre 3, Hara 2, Rust 2, Strand 1

Post Falls Tyras Blake talks with ESN

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Day 2

Game 5
Timberline 61, Kamiak 55

Both the Blazers and Knights fell short on opening day and were looking to make up for it and neither were giving an inch as the 2 teams were tied at 15 after the 1st quarter and then again dead even at the half at 26-26. Kamiak had a pretty balanced attack with 5 different scorers but led by Josiah Pierre who knocked down 18 in the 1st half after dealing with limited minutes on Thursday due to foul trouble.

Meantime, it was a 1 man show for the Blazers as Brooklyn Hicks exploded draining the 1st 21 points for Timberline and finished scoring 22 of the 26. For the game only 3 Blazers would score and Hicks did not stop in the 2nd half. 

We talked with Hicks after the game (interview below) and he told us he had looked up the record for the most individual points scored in a game for the Winter Classic and it was 38. He set a goal to break that record but also said it had to come with a win. It looked certain he would have the record when he hit 37 with about 5 minutes to play in the game.

Hicks had a chance at the foul line but missed the front end of the 1 and 1. Kamiak also was not going anywhere and were within 4. Hicks dished the ball a few times picked up assists and for about 3 minutes he did not score. He refused to force and wanted it to come naturally within the work of winning the game. He says he never lost focus on the main goal, winning. In the final 2 minutes he got the record and added to it being the 1st player in the Winter Classic’s long history to top 40 points as he finished with 42.

Darrell Gipson and Alex Tichenor both added as Gipson hit for 12, 10 of those in the 2nd half and Tichenor had 5 2nd half points for a total of 7. Hicks added to his stat line with 5 rebounds 6 steals a block and 4 assists and was our clear MVP for the Blazers.

Kamiak’s Josiah Pierre broke out with a huge game as well finishing with 26 along 7 rebounds. Jaytin Hara also hit double figures with 11 3 3-balls and 3 boards. He also had 3 steals and 5 assists and earned our MVP for the Knights. Luke Strand had 9 and Max Rust off the bench hit for 5.

Timberline plays Kentridge on Saturday for 4th place at 4p while Kamiak takes on Post Falls of Idaho at 2:30 for the 7th place trophy.

Timberline’s Brooklyn Hicks talks on setting the individual scoring record for the Winter Classic

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Game 6
Kentridge 67, Post Falls 62 (OT)

In the 2nd consolation game of day 2 the Post Falls Trojans were looking for their 1st win of the season and trying to rebound after getting run over by the Curtis Vikings on opening night. The Trojans did just that and gave a very good Kentridge team all they wanted push the game to overtime. 

The Chargers jumped out to the early lead building a 23-12 advantage over the Trojans after the first 8 minutes. Dominic Randhawa got off to a fast start after being held to just 1 point in the opener scoring 13 in the 1st half and finishing with 19. His twin brother Xzavier led the Chargers on day 1 with 13 points but got into foul trouble and played very limited minutes in a frustrating game for him on Friday. 

Meantime, Post Falls was looking to show they belonged in this tournament after scoring just 26 points for the whole game against Curtis. They surpassed that in the 1st half after guard Neil McCarthy caught fire hitting for 17 while draining 4 3-bombs from behind the arc to score 17. Trenton McLean and Tyras Bowie also hit a 3s and the Trojans trailed by just 2 at the break 35-33.

The tenacious Trojans would not give in and as McCarthy cooled off others stepped up with a total of 7 players scoring in the 2nd half and OT for a well balanced attack. Kentridge meantime saw another solid game from ball handler Jalon Blackwell who finished with 17 but it was Jamarri Harris who showed up big time with 11 of his 20 points coming in the 2nd half and OT and just missed the double/double with 9 boards. 

The 2 teams finished regulation tied at 56 but it was the Chargers who still had more in the tank to surge past the Trojans for the final 67-62 win. Alex Conner had another solid game inside with 8 boards and 2 blocked shots to go with his 4 points while Blackwell added 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists.

Close but not the win Post Falls was hoping for and were led by McCarthy’s 23 points while Blake finished with 11 and 4 players had 6. Conner Carver led the work in the paint with 8 rebounds. 

Our MVP’s went to Kentridge’s Jamarri Harris and Neil McCarthy for the Trojans. The Chargers face Timberline at 4p for 4th place while Post Falls takes on Kamiak for 7th place in the opener on Saturday at 2:30p.

Jamarri Harris from Kentridge talks with ESN

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Game 7
Lake City 70, Central Catholic 49

In the first Semifinal of the night it was Idaho vs Oregon and the Lake City Timberwolves flexed their muscles early to build a big lead and never relented. Lake City jumped out to an 18-11 lead after the 1st 8 minutes and pushed that 7 point lead to 18 outscoring the Rams 20-9 in the 2nd quarter and that took the wind out of the Central Catholic sails. 

The Rams were led by Marley Zeller who had 10 at the break and would go on to lead all scorers with 26 for the game but it was not enough. The presence and defensive presssure kept Central Catholic on their heels and could never get into a groove. Nazier Paschal was their 2nd leading scorer with 7

Buchanan and Mitchell each had 17 and Buchanan had the double-double with 10 rebounds. Nathan Hocking was solid for the Timberwolves with 15 points and 6 boards while Mitchell added 3 boards, 2 steals and 2 assists.

Lake City advances to the Winter Classic Championship Saturday night at 7p against the host Curtis. Central Catholic will play for 3rd against Mt Spokane at 5:30.

Our MVP’s of the game went to the T-Wolves Blake Buchanan and to the Rams Marley Zeller.

Stats
Scoring
Lake City: Buchanan 17, Mitchell 17, Hocking 15, Johnson 10, Kiesbuy 7, Strawn 4
Central Catholic: Zeller 26, N Paschal 7, Angelo 6, Thompson 6,  Z Paschal 2, Carr 2
Rebounds
Lake City: Buchanan 10, Hocking 6, Kiesbuy 4, Johnson 4, Hill 3, Mitchell 3, Strawn 2, Miller 1
Central Catholic: Thompson 3, N Paschal 3, Zeller 3, Carr 3, Z Paschal 2, Angelo 2, Riley 1

Blake Buchanan talks with ESN

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Game 8 
Curtis 76, Mt Spokane 55

This was a re-match of last year’s Winter Classic Championship game where the Wildcats of Mt Spokane pulled off a 60-53 win over the host team Curtis. The Vikings would go on to then win the 4A state Championship while Mt Spokane took home hardware in the 3A tournament with 5th place.

The Vikings were seeking revenge and trying to win their own tournament for the 1st time since 2015 but the Wildcats were eager to become the 1st back-to-back winners. The 2 teams would battle to a tight 18-17 1st quarter with the Vikings holding a slight light lead. Curtis would double their lead by halftime to 34-32 and it looked like it was anyone’s game. 

Zoom Diallo was off to a fast start for the Vikings dumping 16 with a couple of impressive slams and hitting a few 3-balls. Cinque Maxwell had 6 and Tyce Paulsen 5. For Mt Spokane Ryan Lafferty and Andrew Rayment both had 10 to pace the Wildcats.

In the 2nd half the Vikings came out with a different attitude. After being challenged by Head Coach Tim Kelly his squad responded with some lock down defense and pressured the Cats the entire length of the floor. Senior Cinque Maxwell spurred his teammates with his usual solid effort doing a little bit of everything from scoring to rebounding, steals and assists. The Vikings would surge to a 15 point lead on the 23-10 3rd quarter run.

The Vikings pressure would not subside in the 4th and again outscored the Wildcats 19-13 to pull away and advance to the Tournament Championship against Lake City on Saturday night at 7p. Diallo remained hot finishing with 30 as 7 different Vikings would score. Paulsen had a huge 2nd half scoring 13 of his 18 while Maxwell finished with 15 and he led in rebounds with 6. Diallo added 5 assists with 2 steals and Bilal El Ghalemi had 3 steals off the bench. The Vikings will have their chance at their 2nd Winter Classic Championship Saturday night against Lake City of Idaho.

For Mt Spokane, Lafferty finished with 20, Andrew Rayment had 16 and Maverick Sanders scored 9 with 7 boards and 2 steals. The Wildcats will play for 3rd place on Saturday night at 5:30 against Central Catholic of Portland.

Our MVP’s for this game went to the Viking’s Zoom Diallo and to Mt Spokane’s Andrew Rayment.

Stats
Scoring
Curtis: Diallo 30, Paulsen 18, Maxwell 15, Whitten 5, Ahrens 4, El Ghalemi 2, Johnson 2
Mt Spokane: Lafferty 20, Rayment 16, Sanders 9, Travis 6, Vargas 3, Williams 1
Rebounds
Curtis: Maxwell 6, Diallo 5, El Ghalemi 2, Whitten 2, Johnson 2, Ahrens 2
Post Falls: Bowie 5, Anderson 2, McLean 2, Shields 2, Ostlund 1, McCarthy 1, McKeown 1, Wolfe 1, Carver 1

The Viking’s Zoom Diallo talks with ESN

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Day 1

Game 1 
Lake City 66, Kamiak 43 

The Lake City Timberwolves traveled from Idaho to be a part of the Curtis Winter Classic and jumped out to an early 1st quarter lead over the Kamiak Knights, 20-9. Nathan Hocking the 6’6 Sr wing for the T-Wolves led the 1st quarter in a well balanced offensive attack with 5 players scoring for Lake City. Hocking had 7 including a 3-pointer.

For Kamiak, Josiah Pierre led the scoring with 5 including one from behind the arc but the 6’5 Sr forward picked up 2 fouls in the 1st 8 minutes.

Lake City continued to pressure the Knights in the 2nd quarter pushing lead to 15 halfway through the quarter  but more importantly to Kamiak is Josiah Pierre picked up his critical 3rd foul early in the quarter and sat on the bench for the rest of the 1st half.

Kamiak did make a run closing the gap to 10 just before the half when Lake City was called for a goal tending shot on a 3-pointer to make 30-20. The T-Wolves pushed it back to a dozen points when Deacon Kiesbury laid one in at the buzzer for a 32-20 lead.

In the 3rd quarter with 2:00 to play the Knights came out firing and went on a 15-4 run to pull within 1 trailing 36-35. Chance Loudenback and Josiah Pierre was back in the game adding to his 7 halftime points scoring 4. However, the Timberwolves would answer late in the 3rd with a 7-0 run to lead 43-35. Kolton Mitchell drained a big 3 ball as time expired and the buzzer sounded.

The Timberwolves then used that late 3rd quarter surge to push their lead back to 15 with 3 minutes to play in the game and kept the Knights at arms length for the rest of the game plus some by outscoring Kamiak 23-8 over the final 10 minutes of the game. 

Lake City improved to 4-0 while the Knights drop to 1-2. Our MVP’s were Kolton Mitchell for Lake City and Kamiak’s Josiah Pierre. Lake City advances to the Semi-Finals against Central Catholic while Kamiak gets Timberline in the consolation bracket. 

Stats
Scoring
Lake City: Mitchell 14, Hocking 12, Strawn 10, Kiesbury 9, Johnson 9, Buchanan 8, Watson 3
Kamiak: J. Pierre 17, Hara 10, Loudenback 9, Shubert 4, Strand 3
Rebounds
Lake City: Mitchell 6, Johnson 5, Buchanan 3, Hill 2, Strawn 1
Kamiak: J Pierre 3, Shubert 2, E Pierre 2, Hara 1, Loudenback 1

Lake City’s Kolton Mitchell

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Game 2
Central Catholic 64, Timberline 45

The Rams of Central Catholic represented the 3rd state participating in the Curtis Winter Classic coming from Portland, Oregon. Central Catholic got off to a fast start with a 13 point lead after the 8 minutes of play up 20-7. Tony Angelo led the Rams with 7 in the 1st quarter while Timberline struggled to get some offense going.

The Blazers did better in the 2nd quarter doubling their output finishing with 21 and pulled within 10 down 30-20 but ended up fouling with less than a second to play and Angelo sank both to give the Rams a 33-21 lead at the break. Angelo led all scorers with 11 at the break while Isaac Carr had 10. For the Blazers the scoring was well spread out with 6 different players scoring led by Darrell Gipson with 5 points. Gipson added to his stat line with 3 steals.

Timberline resisted the Rams in the 3rd quarter cutting the lead back to single digits with 2 minutes to play trailing 40-31 and down by 7 with a minute to play. Brooklyn Hicks scored 7 to lead the Blazers charge.

The Rams quickly answered with a pair of free throws from Angelo and then a lay-in from Carr to push the lead back to 11. Carr then drained a 3 ball with just 2 seconds to play in 3rd and just like that they were back up by 14.

Central Catholic refused to allow the Blazers to get back in the game pushing their lead to 18 with 1:45 to play in the game and it was at that time that both teams cleared the benches with a mass substitution. Isaac Carr paced the Rams with 22 while Angelo scored 16. Brooklyn Hicks led the Blazers with 18. The Rams did a lot of damage from the free throw line going 14 of 18 while the Blazers struggled at 3-11.

The Rams are now 3-0 while the Blazers drop to 3-2. Our MVP’s went to sophomore Isaac Carr for Central Catholic and Brooklyn Hicks for Timberline. Central Catholic advances to face Lake City tomorrow at 7pm and Timberline takes on Kamiak at 4pm.

Stats
Scoring
Central Catholic: Carr 22, Angelo 16, Thompson 7, Zeller 7, N Paschal 6, Scott 2, Z Paschal 2, Colner 2
Timberline: Hicks 18, Gipson 7, A Tichenor 6, Ragland 5, Cornwell 4, Taufete’e 3, Ward 2
Rebounds
Central Catholic: Thompson 8, N Paschal 7, Z Paschal 7, Eberwien 2, Carr 2, Zeller 1, Angelo 1
Timberline: Simmons 6, Hicks 6, Cornwell 3, Taufete’e 1, Wilson 1

Isaac Carr talks with ESN

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Game 3
Curtis 82, Post Falls 26

The host team Curtis Vikings came out firing and looked to set the tone for the tournament jumping out to a 35-9 lead after just 1 quarter. The explosive offense and stingy defense is what led this team to last year’s 4A State Championship and Coach Tim Kelly has every single starter plus a couple deep back this year to defend that trophy.

The Vikings pushed that lead to a whopping 58-15 count. Tyce Paulsen lit up the scoreboard with 18 and Phenom Zoom Diallo right behind with 16 dominating the rim and flushing several for emphasis. 7 different Vikings got in the scorebook in the 1st half. Alexander Shields led the Trojans with 7.

As the 3rd quarter began the game was under a running clock and the shots just kept falling and with 3 minutes to play in the 3rd stretched that lead to 70-17. Substitutions began coming in with a couple minutes to play and at the end of 3 Curtis had a mammoth 77-20 advantage. That momentum would continue through the 4th finishing with a 82-26 victory.

The Vikings Devin Whitten had an all-around great game scoring 10 but adding 5 rebounds, 6 steals and 7 assists. Paulsen led all scorers with 20, Dialo had 18 along with 3 steals and 5 assists and Cinque Maxwell was the 4th in double figs with a dozen. Alexander Shields led the Trojans with 8, Neil McCarty added 5 and Asher Bowie grabbed 5 boards.

Our MVP for Curtis went to Whitten while Shields got it for Post Falls. Curtis is now 5-0 and will play either Mt Spokane or Kentridge Friday night at 8:30 while Post Falls will get the lose at 5:30 in the consolation bracket.

Stats
Scoring
Curtis: Paulsen 20, Diallo 18, Maxwell 12, Whitten 10, Koch 6, El Ghalemi 4, Bacon 4, Logan 4, Williams 2, Ahrens 2
Post Falls: Shields 8, McCarthy 5, Bowie 4, McLean 3, Cameron 2, Blake 2, Carver 2
Rebounds
Curtis: Koch 6, Whitten 5, El Ghalemi 3, Maxwell 3, Bacon 2, Logan 2, Ahrens 2, Diallo 1
Post Falls: Bowie 5, Anderson 2, McLean 2, Shields 2, Ostlund 1, McCarthy 1, McKeown 1, Wolfe 1, Carver 1

The Vikings Devon Whitten talks with ESN

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Game 4
Mt Spokane 73, Kentridge 59

In the final game of the night Mt Spokane, the defending Curtis Winter Classic Champions, got off to a fast start with 10 point lead over the Kentridge Chargers 21-11. The Wildcats used a balanced attack with 7 different players scoring to extend their lead to 14 at the half up 35-21.

Ryan Lafferty led Mt Spokane with 10 while Maverick Sanders and Andrew Rayment each had 8. The Wildcats did have some foul issues in the 1st half racking up 9. The quick pace the Cats maintained though kept the Chargers on their heels.

Kentridge is staying in touch with Xzavier Randhawa with 8 points including a pair from behind the 3 point arc. 3 others have 4.

In the 2nd half the foul trouble continued for the Wildcats as they were whistled for 10 fouls in the 3rd quarter alone and their top 3 scorers Lafferty, Sanders and Rayment all found themselves on the bench with 4 fouls.  Nalu Vargas and Trey Williams stepped during this time to fill the void knocking down a combined 19 points for the game.

Meantime, Timberline did make their run and closed to within 4 early into the 4th quarter. The Chargers had 5 in double figures led by Xzavier Randhawa with 13, Jalon Blackwell and Elijah Cain had 12, Blackwell also had 5 assists, Jamari Harris 11 and Alex Conner with 10. Conner also led the Chargers cleaning the boards with 9 rebounds just missing a double-double.

Mt Spokane Head Coach Dave Wagenblast then turned to his starters on the bench and told them to get back in and don’t foul and they followed those instructions while injecting a much needed offensive surge as the Wildcats pulled away for a 73-59 win. Lafferty led all scorers with 25, Andrew Rayment had 13 while Maverick Sanders and Nalu Vargas each had 12. Sanders also led with 5 boards while Lafferty, Vargas and Rayment each had 4. Sanders did finish off a nice stat sheet with 3 steals, 3 blocks and 2 assists.

Mt Spokane improves to 5-0 while Kentridge drops to 3-2. The Wildcats will play Curtis in a re-match of last year’s Championship game in the Winter Classic which the Wildcats won Friday night at 8:30. Kentridge drops into the consolation and gets Post Falls at 5:30. Our MVP awards went to Mt Spokane’s Ryan Lafferty and the Chargers Jalon Blackwell.

Stats
Scoring
Mt Spokane: Lafferty 25, Rayment 13, Sanders 12, Vargas 12, Williams 7, Dickau 2, Reijonen 2
Kentridge: X Randhawa 13, Blackwell 12, Cain 12, Harris 11, Connor 10, D Randhawa 1
Rebounds
Mt Spokane: Sanders 5, Lafferty 4, Vargas 4, Smith 3, Dickau 1, Travis 1, Williams 1, Reijonen 1
Kentridge: Conner 9, Cain 6, Turner 5, Blackwell 5, X Randhawa 4, Harris 3, Henao 1

Mt Spokane’s Ryan Lafferty talks with ESN

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