The Orcas boys basketball team got off to a running start on Saturday, winning against the Pullman Christian Eagles 37-34 in a first game squeaker at Orcas. Orcas led in the first quarter, 15-9. Coach Joe Duenn said, “We want to be a good defensive team. The second quarter was tough. They changed up their defense and it took us a while to adjust to their new positioning, but we had some great rebounding.” Tyler Leidecker lead the Vikings in rebounds while Seadrick Wooding provided excellent leadership and demonstrated fine ball-handling skills as point guard. Alan Coe came out and played excellent defense as well, snatching the ball away from potential scorers and sending it down the court on numerous fast breaks.

In the fourth quarter, Tyler Nigretto hit two free throws with less than a minute left to go in the game. “He got fouled, and the other team was up by one, and you know, if you miss that first shot, you don’t get it again.” commented Coach Duenn, “He made that first shot and took another shot and made that one as well! We had less than 30 seconds to go and the other team was pressing us hard. Tyler Shaw also had six free throws total for the game and three in a row. He made four out of six of those foul shots and then had a layup on a fast break. And Daniel Jansen had a good number of rebounds plucked from the opposing team.” The Orcas Vikings had some respectable outside shots as well. Tyler Nigretto made one three pointer in the first quarter and Diepenbrock had a few good shots on the outside. “We were a little off because of first game excitement,” said Coach Duenn. “The guys were very anxious over their first game of the season. And we learned that if nothing else is working, focusing on defense is good. It will keep you literally on the ball. It works.”