by MARTY ZIER
Sports contributor
The Viking boys traveled to Darrington on Saturday and brought home their first win of the season, 46-33.
Viking defense dominated the game, limiting the Loggers to 15 first half points with Jack Russillo, Rylan Date and Jake Zier keeping the Loggers out of the paint while Jack Gates and Devon Stanzione kept the outside shooters quiet. Russillo and Zier controlled the boards, combining for 17 rebounds. Viking scoring was lead by Gates with 21, Zier 13 and Stanzione 10.
“Defense won it. We kept them out of the paint and pushed them to the outside wings,” said Coach Rich Madden.
The Lady Vikings played Darrington as well for a league contest versus the Loggers that ended in a 54 to 36 loss. Facing a strong Logger squad with five more games of experience, the Vikings started strong, opening with Alicia Susol hitting a three pointer followed by an assist to Aliviah Garcia for a layup. But after down at halftime 23 to 26, the Logger’s defense dominated the second half keeping the Vikings to only 13 second half points.
Coach Greg Sasan summed up the game: “We got beat on the boards – out rebounded and out hustled. We played hard and I am really proud of the girls.”
Both teams next play at Concrete Wednesday, Dec. 19.