Stickiest adhesive in Curtis' boys' basketball state-title repeat hopes? It's fanfare-free Cinque Maxwell

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. - Nearly a month ago, after a third-place finish at a high-level holiday tournament in California, and a blowout 4A SPSL victory over Sumner, defending Class 4A champion Curtis was feeling pretty good about itself.

And then the wildly imaginable happened - chief league rival Olympia came to town for a showdown, and blew the Vikings' doors down in their own gymnasium.

The final score was 72-60 - but the Bears enjoyed a 20-point lead in the second half in ending Curtis' 22-game league winning streak.

But the Vikings didn't seemed fazed at all by the outcome.

Why?

It's because the team didn't have the "biggest key to our puzzle," who was out with injury.

Junior Zoom Diallo is the face of the program as a five-star recruit - and top-20 prospect nationally. And few can stroke it from the perimeter better than senior Tyce Paulsen, a Point Loma Nazarene University signee.

But this squad cannot win another WIAA title without senior Cinque Maxwell, who was sidelined for that loss.

If you don't believe that, just ask the program's longtime coach, who has won four state championship at two different schools.

"Uh, no," Vikings boys coach Tim Kelly said. "Just glad we'll have him."

Let's see, what makes Maxwell - at 6-foot-1 - so effective. For starters, he is the team's best defensive player, often asked to guard all five positions on the floor in a game.

"He is fast and is a quick jumper," Kelly said. "And he does things the right way - in everything.

"In basketball, just learn to play the right way, and put yourself in position to make plays offensively and defensively. He does that."

And yet, Kelly also is quick to remind folks that over the past two seasons, Maxwell has averaged a steady 14.0 points per game while also being an apt ball-handler.

"He is very valuable," Diallo said. "He does the little things that are unnoticeable.

"He is the biggest key to our puzzle."

Prying for a weakness? It's that he doesn't talk ... about himself much.

"Really, what it comes down to - I want to go out there and play hard and give the best I can," the soft-spoken Maxwell said. "I am not worried about all the cameras and outside noise. I just want to play basketball."

Sure, he appreciates how much he's valued - around his team and the state. But, winning is paramount in his mind.

"Oh, I do feel sometimes I am not recognized," Maxwell said. "But at the end of the day, the end goal is always making the state tournament. And if we win that last game, that is all that matters."