Sports

CHAMPIONS!!!

Curtis held off a surging Jackson team in the final minutes to secure a 60-56 victory and the 4A state boys basketball championship. It's the University Place school's first 4A title, and its first state championship in basketball since 1971.

TACOMA-Champions.

Curtis held off aΒ surging Jackson team in the final minutes Saturday night to secure a 60-56 victory and the 4A state boys basketball championship in front of a legion of blue-an-white clad fans at the Tacoma Dome.

It's the University Place school's first 4A title, and its first state championship in basketball since 1971.

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Once again, senior Dominic Robinson was the team's leading scorer with 20 points.

Over three games at the Hardwood Classic, he averaged 21 points and carried the Vikings' on his 5-foot-7 frame during long stretches.

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Curtis big man Isom Brown added 16 points and dove for loose balls with pure recklessness, while Andre Lewis had nine points and nine rebounds.

Although the Vikings led nearly the entire game, this one had Curtis fans biting to their cuticles The Vikings jumped early on the Timber Wolves, who hadn't lost a game all season.

On the strength of Robinson's hot shooting and a suffocating defense, Curtis took a 31-19 lead into halftime. After three quarters, it held a 42-33 heading into the biggest fourth quarter in school history.

But seemingly everyone in the building that Jackson was going to make a run. They started playing with desperation, and it worked. The Timber Wolves began getting to the foul line, which freed up their shooters and bring their team to within a point twice in the fourth quarter, including 54-53 with 37.9 seconds left.

Still, Curtis never wavered. Clinging to a 1-point lead with 9 seconds left, senior Dominique Jordan sank three consecutive free throws, two of which came after the referees called the first one off.

"It was a blur," he said when asked about the frantic final moments.

Then, as Jaurence Chisolm free throw gave Curtis its final point, as Jackson helplessly heaved the ball toward the hoop, the final buzzer sounded. The Vikings rushed the floor, and a season's worth of work and playing the underdog paid off.

Champions.

That's a title Coach Tim Kelly's team almost claimed two years but fell just short. Not this time.

Now, Curtis is a state champion, Kelly has won 4A titles at two different schools and all is well in Vikingland.

"We didn't get it the first time but now, it's so sweet to get it this time," Jordan said.

Go Viks.

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