Devin Whitten's hot shooting propels No. 2 Curtis boys past No. 3 Union in WIAA Class 4A state semifinals
TACOMA, Wash. – Curtis sophomore Devin Whitten admitted after Friday’s 49-40 4A state semifinal victory over Union that seeing opponents playing a 2-3 zone pleases him.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Zones give shooters an opportunity to show off their skills, which Whitten took full advantage of the zone the third-ranked Titans played on Friday, knocking down five 3s and scoring 16 points to lead No. 2 Curtis back to the state championship for the first time since winning the title in 2013.
“When teams go zone, I know it’s a day that I can stand out,” Whitten said. “Today the day, and I just know that I’ve got hit shots in those moments.”
The Vikings (26-3) led 43-40 with the ball and just under two minutes to play in the game. Whitten pulled up from eight feet beyond the 3-point line on the left wing, knocking down his fifth 3-pointer of the game and getting hit on the elbow in the process.
He made the free throw to extend the lead to seven, effectively ending any chance the Titans (20-6) had of pulling off the comeback.
“That was a great feeling,” Whitten said. “The shot clock was running down, and I just had to knock it down, and it just felt great.”
The Vikings started the game on an 8-0, which seemed to be just a small detail at the time, but actually proved to be very important. The game was largely even the rest of the way, but that cushion helped the Vikings lead throughout the game.
“Ever since the playoffs have started, we’ve come out and jumped on teams,” Curtis head coach Tim Kelly said. “I think that’s our focus in preparation.”
Points were hard to come by for the Vikings, but they were for the Titans as well. Union’s 40 points was a season low.
“Our defense tonight was outstanding,” Kelly added. “We were struggling offensively. We weren’t getting good shots and we turned it over a bit. If we keep playing defense and keep getting stops, something will happen and then Devin hits the four-point play in front of us which basically opened it up and sealed it.”
The Vikings will play No. 1 Mount Si at 3 p.m. on Saturday for the championship. It’s a rematch of the semifinal in 2019, which Mount Si won before losing to Gonzaga Prep in the championship game.
“They know what’s at stake tomorrow,” Kelly said of his team. “It’s about getting home tonight and getting rest. We’ll set up our scouting report tonight and come in and shoot around and walk through some stuff (tomorrow), and then you’ve got to go execute it. They’ll be ready to go. If you can’t ready for the state championship, you can’t be ready.”
Union will face No. 11 Olympia, which lost to Mount Si in Friday’s other semifinal in the third-fifth place game at 1 p.m.
---Aaron Lommers; @aaronlommers.
—
Photo by Vince Miller
Photo by Vince Miller
Photo by Vince Miller
Photo by Vince Miller
(All photos by Vince Miller)
