Paulsen’s heroics lift Curtis boys to West Central 4A title; Camas girls win first bi-district title

Defending state champion Curtis wins WCD title behind unbelievable fourth quarter and Tyce Paulsen's game-winning shot; Camas girls have no problems taking down Tahoma

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Tyce Paulsen did it all Saturday night.

The Curtis senior drove to the basket, beat a defender, hung in the air and bounced in a layup to give the Vikings a 52-50 victory in the Class 4A District 3/4 title game at Curtis High School.

It capped a wild fourth quarter that saw the Vikings erase a 14-point deficit and hold the Bears to just four points in the final eight minutes.

“The plan was to get Cinque (Maxwell) or Zoom (Diallo) the ball, but they doubled Zoom and I realized I was open,” Paulsen said. “I passed it, got it back and went straight to the cup and made it.”

The layup set off a frenzy as the Curtis student section stormed the court, only to be herded back into the stands as officials put two seconds back on the clock.

The ensuing long pass from Olympia was picked off by - who else - Paulsen to seal the victory for the defending state champions.

“That guy is the MVP today,” Diallo said of his teammate. “Both sides of the court, he kept at it. We knew we had to get him looks and get him going.”

The Vikings did just that as Paulsen opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers, but Olympia appeared firmly in control.

The Bears, led by standout guard Parker Gerrits, led 50-44 with less than 45 seconds remaining.

Diallo made a layup and after a bad pass on the ensuing inbounds pass, Maxwell made a layup to pull Curtis within 50-48 with 27 seconds to go.

Gerrits then went to the line for a one-and-one with a chance to ice the game, but his first shot rimmed out and Diallo made a putback to tie the game at 50-50 with 11 seconds left.

The Bears then turned the ball over again, setting up Paulsen’s heroics.

“It took awhile for us to realize that we had to get (Tyce) more involved,” Curtis coach Tim Kelly said. “He had four shots at halftime, but as the offense went through him we became better and that allowed us to stay close enough that in the end we got after them on the defensive end and gave ourselves a chance.”

The teams split their two regular-season meetings and the familiarity with how the other wanted to play was evident from the start.

Both teams started slowly with Washington State-bound Gerrits scoring just two points in the first quarter.

Over the next two quarters, though, he put on an offensive display, sinking a 3-pointer from 40 feet and making a circus shot at the end of the third quarter to put the Bears up 12.

Driving to the basket in the final seconds, his shot was blocked but he grabbed the rebound while falling out of bounds and made a basket over the backboard.

It seemed like everything was lining up for a Bears victory, but the Vikings held them to just four fourth-quarter points.

“At halftime we wrote 50 on the board and said the first team to 50 will win,” Kelly said. “They got 50, but we somehow found a way to get 52. I still don’t know how that happened.”

Part of the reason it did happen was Paulsen’s all-around play. The 6-foot-4 guard was assigned the unenviable task of guarding Gerrits, but he was up to the challenge and helped hold him scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“My goal is to just not let him catch the ball and when he does catch, get up on him,” said Paulsen, who will compete at NCAA Division II Point Loma Nazarene next year. “He has a quick trigger and when he shoots it, he shoots at a high clip.”

Paulsen finished with 17 points, while Diallo had 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Vikings (24-3 overall). Maxwell added 14 points.

Gerrits led Olympia (22-5) with 19 points, while big-man Andreas Engholm had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Both teams will compete in the Class 4A state regional round next week with RPI rankings and matchups announced Sunday.

“We aren’t done yet,” Diallo said. “We won districts and now we want state.”

Check out Paulsen's game-winning shot here:

Camas girls breeze by Tahoma in championship game

The Camas girls basketball team has had a dominating season and unfortunately for the rest of the state, they appear to be getting even better.

The Papermakers (21-3 overall) dispatched Tahoma with ease Saturday, winning 60-31 to grab their first Class 4A District 3/4 Tournament championship at Curtis High School.

“It’s the first time it has happened in boys or girls basketball at our school, so it means a lot,” junior Addison Harris said. “I guess there was pressure, but we didn’t let it get to us and we were just locked in and ready to play.”

Harris was a big reason why the Papermakers won the title and made it look so easy.

She had a monster double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds, while also blocking three shots and taking the Bears out of their offense in the paint.

“We have talked since Day 1 about peaking at the end of the season,” Camas coach Scott Thompson said. “We want to peak offensively. We want to peak chemistry wise. We want to peak shooting the ball and we want to peak defensively. It absolutely feels like we are peaking at the right time.

“We played so connected and so hard. It just feels like we are battling every possession like it might be our last of the season.”

Camas closed the first half on a 13-0 run, erasing an early 14-13 deficit to head into the break up 26-14. Tahoma (21-3) made a brief run to pull within 28-22 early in the third, but the Papermakers then went on a 24-3 run to blow the game wide open.

“We go into every single game just saying, ‘Let’s do better than we did last time,’” Harris said. “We are hoping to peak at the state tournament.”

Harris, who is talking to multiple NCAA Division I schools, is not just tall at 6-foot-2, but she is athletic and has multiple low post moves that gave the Tahoma defense fits.

“She is absolutely elite,” Thompson said. “She is one of the best players in the state. She never takes a possession off. She goes after every loose ball, every rebound - the skill and athleticism is elite and she is a great prospect.

“But her attitude and energy is what separates her.”

And that is a problem for everyone Camas plays.

Camas guard Keirra Thompson finished with 11 points and four rebounds, while Parker Mairs added nine points.

Lauryn Frederickson’s 12 points led the Bears, but she was mired in foul trouble throughout limiting her minutes.

Both teams had already earned state tournament berths and will find out Sunday their regional matchups.