Diallo electric as Curtis hangs on for win over Olympia, 51-44
Zoom Diallo was locked in all night, scoring from all three levels in Curtis’ much-anticipated 4A South Puget Sound League matchup against the Olympia Bears. Crossovers, stepbacks, 3-pointers, getting to the rim — the Vikings’ 6-foot-3 star sophomore was putting everything on display.
So when he dribbled the ball into the lane with Curtis clinging to a three-point lead with just under 40 seconds to play, it wasn’t surprising to see Olympia defenders flock to him.
All Diallo did? Absorb the pressure and drop a dime to teammate Cinque Maxwell on the low block for an easy layup, giving Curtis a five-point lead. Ballgame. Curtis went on to win 51-44.
“At the end of the game when I made that pass, I knew it was going to be there,” Diallo said. “Usually when I drive, they always draw to me and Cinque is always in those spots.”
Curtis coach Tim Kelly wasn’t surprised to see Diallo patiently survey the floor and make the right play at the right moment. It’s part of what makes Diallo, who holds in-state offers from UW and WSU early in his career — a high-level recruit and dynamic high school basketball player. He has a high basketball IQ, good spatial awareness and processes things quickly.
“The game is pretty slow for him,” Kelly said. “He doesn’t get sped up. That’s the No. 1 thing. He plays under control. He doesn’t get sped up, riled up. He can get in there and — it’s almost like he’s in slow motion. It’s not 100 miles per hour, and he can get a shot off, get a little floater. That’s what makes him special.”
Diallo led Curtis with 21 points on the night.
“He’s got basketball IQ,” Kelly said. “He sees everything, has a good feel, feels traffic around him. Some guys, they’re just going so fast. He doesn’t really do that.”
Diallo said he always tries to play under control.
“I don’t like nothing to pace me up, make me go fast,” he said. “Usually when I’m playing, I just try and take my time.”
Early on, it looked like his efforts might be enough for a comfortable win. At one point in the second quarter, the Vikings held a 17-points lead. But Olympia kept clawing back, cutting the lead to 12 before the halftime break and eventually cutting the lead to one in the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Parker Gerrits, Olympia’s top player, scored a team-high 21 points in the loss. Like Diallo, Gerrits looks like he’s playing effortlessly, always under control. Olympia has dropped a pair of close games the past two nights, losing to Graham-Kapowsin by a point a day earlier.
“There’s a grind part of the season and I feel like we’re in that, trying to figure out who’s going to score and who’s going to do some things,” said Olympia coach John Kiley. “I challenged some guys at halftime to start winning some 1-on-1 wars. We have some really good athletes that can do that stuff and they started doing that. I felt like we then had five threats on the floor and that started to change the complexion of the game a little bit.”
Curtis guard Cinque Maxwell, who quietly fills up the stat sheet for Curtis most games, scored 16 for the Vikings. Olympia 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Andreas Engholm added 12 points for the Bears and is turning into a nice complementary piece to Gerrits.
“He puts in a lot of work,” Kiley said. “He’s put about 25 pounds on his frame. Unfortunately for him, if we can get a different matchup, he really can shoot it. So I have to do a better job of finding ways for him to shoot. He’s just put in work.”
