G-Prep boys beat Curtis in overtime for third place

TACOMA – Matty McIntyre knew his team wouldn’t panic Saturday afternoon.

What the Gonzaga Prep boys basketball coach didn’t know, though, was how much fuel was left in his Bullpups’ tanks.

As it turned out, plenty.

Logan Adams came around a staggered double screen, launched a 3-point shot from about two feet further than normal, watched it hit the front rim before bounding up, kissing the glass softly and falling through the net at the buzzer to send the State 4A tournament game for third/fifth place into overtime.

Then Sam Lockett took over, and the Bullpups rode their speedy jumping jack for the final four minutes and Gonzaga Prep pulled away 65-54 over the Curtis Vikings at the Tacoma Dome.

Lockett finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists and two roof-lifting dunks in overtime.

“I just wanted to do it for my team, my seniors,” Lockett said. “We didn’t have much left, but after that loss (Friday), we didn’t want to come back with another (loss). We were tired but the anticipation of winning got us back into it.”

Talk about such extreme changes of momentum. Things appeared to be going swimmingly for the Bullpups (25-3) when Lockett made a basket to put G-Prep ahead 38-28 with 3:35 to go in the third quarter.

Then as quickly as hitting a light switch, Curtis took over. And an 18-0 run later that spilled into the fourth quarter, the Vikings led 46-38. A Bullpup was called for a technical and G-Prep looked like it was in unraveling mode.

G-Prep went 5 minutes, 55 seconds without scoring. And it was a putback by Lockett that stopped the bleeding momentarily.

A jumper by Glenn Jordan gave Curtis a 50-40 lead with 4:34 remaining.

The Bullpups had a final surge left in them.

Adams, who finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, took a nice entry pass from Anton Watson for a basket that cut Curtis’ lead to 51-49 with 1:32 to go.

G-Prep had an unforced turnover at the 1:13 mark. The Vikings’ John Moore was fouled, but when he hit just one of two foul shots for a 52-49 lead, that left the door open for Adams’ heroics.

Adams and Lockett combined for G-Prep’s 13 points in overtime.

Lockett watched Adams’ tying shot.

“I was like ‘oh we lost’,” Lockett said when he saw the ball hit the front rim. “Then I thought ’yep, it’s good’.”

McIntyre said his team needed a spark and Lockett and Adams provided it.

“We were dead tired,” McIntyre said. “Obviously we lost our composure there a little bit when things weren’t going our way. Then our seniors stepped up, we started getting some stops. Then, obviously, Sam made some big plays in overtime off the defensive end.”

So after the heartbreaking loss on Friday to undefeated and No. 1-ranked Federal Way, McIntyre had a talk with his team Saturday morning.

“We talked about it – what are you playing for,” McIntyre said. “G-Prep is in the conversation as one of the best teams in the state, if not the best team. That was our mentality going into this thing.”