12/19/2024
(University Place, WA) This is the 7th Curtis Winter Classic and another great line-up of schools participating. Over the years there have now been teams from 6 states and 2 countries. Teams from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Colorado and this year add Utah along with Canada have all competed.
The Winter Classic is a true 8-team tournament format with quarterfinals, semifinals, finals and a consolation bracket. So all 8 teams will play 3 games in 3 days and never really know who they are going to play and when until the games have been completed.
This year the teams include 2 from other states, Doherty High School from Colorado and Davis High school from Utah. The rest are from Washington state and include Kentwood, Timberline, O’Dea, West Valley (Yakima), Mount Spokane and the host team Curtis.
Our coverage below is from each day and as we progress through the tournament we will add the new coverage to the top of this post. We will have short re-caps, links to the game replays and our MVP’s in each game. Let’s get to our 7th Curtis Winter Classic covdrage!
Day 2
Consolation Bracket
4pm Timberline vs O’Dea
5:30pm Curtis vs Doherty (CO)
Winners Bracket
7pm Kentwood vs Davis
8:30pm West Valley (Yak) vs Mt Spokane
Day 1
Kentwood 64, Timberline 46
Mt Spokane 58, Doherty (CO) 54
West Valley (Yak) 72, Curtis 62
Davis (UT) 62, O’Dea 51
Game 1
Kentwood 64, Timberline 46
The Kentwood Conquerers got things rolling with a fast start in the 1st half sprinting out to a 20-9 lead after the 1st quarter and stretching that to a 30-14 halftime lead. Mason St Louis led the Conk attack scoring 11 with Corey Tita right behind with 9.
Kentwood’s defense was smothering always having a hand in the way on defense without fouling while piling up the points.Timberline was simply out of synch and never got into the right although they did start forcing Kentwood to shoot from the outside in the 2nd quarter which the Conks struggled with but still doubled up the Blazers 10-5 to lead 30-14 at the break.
In the 2nd half again the Conks controlled the 3rd quarter extending their lead to 48-25 building a 23 point lead after 3 quarters. But then Timberline found a rhythm and in the 1st 4 minutes of the 4th quarter and cut the lead tgo 13. Kenyon Simmons and DJ Falco led the comeback and the Blazers had a shot at a miraculous comeback.
The Conks dug in though and there would be no big comeback win and Kentwood finished strong to win by 18. It was a great way for Timberline to finish though and gave them some momentum going into day 2 and they will again play the 4pm game. The Conks will advance to the semifinals with a 7pm tip.
Our Thorbeckes MVP went to Corey Tita. Tita finished with 19 points and his defensive pressure was key in the opening half to help build their big lead. Mason St Louis and Brandon Tagle also were considered but we leaned slightly to Tita.
Scoring
Kentwood: Mason St. Louis 20, Corey Tita 19, Brandon Tagle 15, Jacob Bail 5,Jaevieon Jamerson 5
Timberline: Kenyon Simmons 13, DJ Falco 10, Josh Tichenor 6, Carmelo Roper 5, Leon Heilman 4, Isaiah Tillman 4, Trey Curtis 2, Alex Kumher 2
Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)
Game 2
Mt Spokane 58, Doherty (CO) 54
The Mt Spokane Wildcats just missed playing for the State Championship last season finishing 3rd. But they took a hit at graduation and now the Wildcats are coming back with another big senior class but inexperienced. Mt Spokane was 3-3 coming into the tournament and coach Dave Wagenblast was excited about how his team was beginning to gel.
The Doherty Spartans from Colorado were trying to turn the corner on a slow start this season. The Spartans were up for not only tghe 3 games at the Winter Classic but got things started on Wednesday with a game at Monroe.
The game began with a bang when the Wildcats got a clean tip and Jaden Ghoreishi broke free and slam dunked the opening bucket. Mt Spokane would keep up the hot scoring surging out to a 17-9 lead after the 1st quarter.
The Spartans would flip the script in the 2nd and outscored the Cats 17-7 to take a 26-24 lead in at the break as Mt Spokane went cold. Elijah Mack and Gavin Gilbert led the 2nd quarter charge each scoring 6 points.
Neither team could go on a significant run in the 2nd half to stretch the lead one way or the other. After 3 quarters Doherty clung to a 1 point lead 39-38. The game would come down to the final quarter and Mt Spokane would get a huge 3 ball with about 55 seconds to play from Colt Kenison to give them a 5 point lead.
Doherty tried to come back but simply ran out of time. Mt Spokane’s Ghoreishi led all scorers with 21 and added 5 rebounds and was 5-5 from the line while Nalu Vargas knocked down 15 and grabbed 6 boards. Mack and Syron Odie led the Spartans each with 14. Odie knocked down 4 3-balls.
Our Thorbeckes MVP went to Jaden Ghoreishi of Mt Spokane with a lot of consideration for Vargas. Had Doherty pulled off the win it would have come down to Mack or Odie.
Scoring
Doherty (CO): Elijah Mack 14, Syron Odie 14, Javar Harrison 8, Zander Muna 7, Gavin Gilbert 6, Acai Biglow 3, Kaleb Foster-Gebur 2
Mount Spokane: Jaden Ghoreishi 21, Nalu Vargas 15, Jake Lenberger 8, Lucas Dickau 7, Colt Kenison 5, Rock Franklin 2
Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)
Game 3
West Valley (Yak) 72, Curtis 62
The Curtis Winter Classic will have to wait another year for a shot at back-to-back Champions as the host team was the defending champs but a late 4th quarter run by West Valley of Yakima knocked the Vikings into the consolation bracket.
Neither team could land an early knock-out blow as both teams held slim leads at times with West Valley leading 17-15 after the 1st quarter and up 35-32 at the half. Landon Birley landed buckets from all over the floor scoring 21 1st half points for the Rams. Freshman Austin Birley added 8. For Curtis, Xavier Ahrens had 10 and Noah Kaylor pumped in 9.
Ahrens then nedarly single-handedly kept the Vikings in the game scoring 14 of his 27 total points. Landon Birley continued to add to his total and finished with 28 after 3 and West Valley held a 51-50 lead as the Vikings outscored the Rams 18-16 in the 3rd.
In the 4th and deciding final 8 minutes both teams continued to trade jabs and it was nip and tuck. That all changed about midway through the 4th when Landon Birley heated up again and rained down several buckets in a row to finally give West Valley a little breathing space with a 5 point lead. They would push it 9 and ultimately win by 10 72-62 in a much closer game than the final score indicated.
Our Thorbeckes MVP was an easy call with Landon Birley finishing with 38. Younger brother Austin finished with 13. Had the Vikings pulled off the win it would have been tough to get around Xavier Ahrens who finished with 27.
Scoring
West Valley (Yak): Landon Birley 38, Austin Birley 13, Parker Mills 12, Parker Hill 6, James Mataia 3
Curtis: Xavier Ahrens 27, Noah Kaylor 13, Skyler Clement 8, Will Torrone 8, Kametrius Babbs 4, Mercer Estes 2
Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)
Game 4
Davis (UT) 62, O’Dea 51
This began as a hard fought physical game and it never let up. The Davis Darts from Kaysville, Utah were not intimidated by the O’Dea Fighting Irish who are fresh off winning the State 3A Football Championship. The Darts were going to match them possession by possession through the 1st half.
The Darts led 17-14 through the 1st 8-minutes but O’Dea rallied back in the 2nd half outscoring Davis 18-11 to take a 32-28 lead at the break. The game got very physical with an intentional foul being called against the Irish and Levi Orbino being ejected from the game. The Irish were led by a team effort with 10 different players scoring in the 1st half led by the 8 of Brian Webster.
Davis had 6 in the scorebook with no one scoring more than 6 as Coleman Atwater and JT Turley each had a half dozen. O’Dea had the edge in rebounding at the half 14-8.
There was no let up by either side as the 3rd quarter began. O’Dea would stretch their lead but Davis would turn it around. The Darts hit some big shots and took over offensively to re-take the lead up 43-41 headed to the 4th quarter.
The Darts kept that momentum rolling and would build a lead by as many as 7. O’Dea fought back and with 1:37 to go in the game the Irish trailed by 4, 53-49. After a missed 3 ball Davis came firing back and had the ball with a new shot clock with 1:13 to play when Coleman Atwater made a spectacular play to lay up a bucket while being covered tight by O’Dea and with 1:04 to go they went back up by 6.
After a turnover Davis added a pair of free-throws to push their lead to 8. O’Dea answered with a bucket and their hopes were still alive trailing by 6 wigth 43-seconds to play. The Irish were forced to foul and the Darts answered sinking 5 of 8 and completed the 62-51 win.
The Thorbeckes MVP went to the Darts’ Coleman Atwater who led his team in both scoring and rebounding and came up with a huge play that really turned the tide late and helped Davis secure the win.
Scoring
Davis (UT): Coleman Atwater 20, JT Turley 14, Bode Sparrow 7, Benntt Wright 7, Croydon Christensen 6, Bryker Couser 5, Tradon Bessinger 3
O’Dea: Brian Webster 14, Breylon Webb 9, Peyton Brooks 7, Gavin Bristol 5, Davian Sherlock 4, Ray Clark 3, Josiah Bowman 3, Gene Woodard 2, Giulio Banchero 2, Juju Duckett 2,
Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)
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