Originally published March 4, 2011 at 8:12 PM | Page modified March 4, 2011 at 11:19 PM

Curtis races past Davis, 83-71; will play Gonzaga Prep for title | 4A Boys

Curtis defeats Davis, 83-71, Friday night in the Tacoma Dome to reach the state finals for the first time since 1986.

By Ron Newberry

Special to The Seattle Times

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TACOMA — Julian Vaughn remembers how it felt when Curtis' promising basketball season dissolved in a little more than a week.

Curtis finished the 2009-10 regular season 19-1 only to lose four consecutive playoff games and miss the Class 4A state tournament.

Vaughn and his Curtis teammates were embarrassed and couldn't wait for a chance to make things right this season. Most of the players, including four starters, were coming back.

"It definitely put a fire within us," said Vaughn, a senior forward. "Since day one, we used that as motivation and we're finally here."

Curtis has gone even a few steps further, defeating Davis, 83-71, Friday night in the Tacoma Dome to reach the state finals for the first time since 1986.

The Vikings from University Place, near Tacoma, used a 28-point fourth quarter to distance themselves from the Pirates from Yakima, including 17 free throws in the final quarter.

Curtis (23-5) will play Gonzaga Prep (22-3) of Spokane at 9:30 p.m. Saturday for a chance to win its first state title since 1971. That year, Curtis defeated Battle Ground for the 3A championship.

"Obviously when you get to this point, it's 32 minutes," said Curtis coach Tim Kelly, who won 4A titles as coach of Lincoln in 2001 and 2002. "We're 32 minutes now from being the best team in the state. No one can take that away from you. You'll just leave it all out there tomorrow."

Curtis recognized its size advantage over Davis and built that into its game plan. The Vikings worked the ball inside to forwards Darius Johnson-Wilson (20 points, nine rebounds), James Cooks (17 points) and Vaughn (10 points).

Pounding the ball inside to the 6-foot-5 Johnson-Wilson and driving to the basket helped lead to 29 free throws out of 36 attempts for the Vikings. Davonte Lacy, a senior guard headed to Washington State University, made nine of 11 free throws and finished with 19 points for Curtis.

The Vikings shot 65 percent (26 of 40) from the field to 40 percent (26 of 65) for the Pirates.

Guard David Trimble led Davis (21-5) with 19 points.

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