The Orcas Vikings took down the Darrington Loggers 57-52 on Jan 21.

The boys burst out in huge grins, said coach Gregg Sasan.

“It was about time to see them smile,” he said.

Having recently lost four varsity members to ineligibility, the squad has been playing with a very young set of players for the past five games and gaining invaluable experience the hard way.

The team fell to league leader La Conner and second-ranked Shoreline Christian. After tough losses to Mt. Vernon Christian (60-36) and Cedar Park Christian (57-47), the boys were glad to celebrate their hard-earned win over Darrington.

The Vikings had lost their last bout with the Loggers 63-50, making this victory even sweeter.

Orcas surged ahead in the first quarter for an early lead of 16-7; second quarter the Loggers rebounded, pulling ahead to 31-23. The third quarter was the deciding point in the game: Orcas sunk 20 points to Darrington’s four. The Loggers regrouped in the fourth quarter for 17 more points, but Orcas was with them neck and neck and dropped in 14 more points for the win.

Jacob Hansen led with 23 points; Jake Zier had 17. “Jake’s been playing really big for us,” said Sasan, with over 15 rebounds, a number that’s been a trend for Zier for the past few games.

Point guard Aubrey Schermerhorn shot eight points, and Robbie Padbury scored seven.

“Devon Stanzione came off the bench and made three or four steals as soon as he went in; he really kept the momentum going for us, kept us in the game,” said Sasan.

Sasan said he’s relying on upperclassmen Hansen, Padbury and Schermerhorn to lead the team. Only six of the fifteen players making up the varsity and JV teams are technically varsity players, so JV players are on standby, ready to jump into the game.

Sasan said the team is really focusing on free throw accuracy, as free throws can decide the outcome of a game. Next game up: the Vikings play Friday Harbor Monday, Jan. 24.