The Orcas high school gym was rockin’ when the Orcas Vikings and their old nemesis, the Friday Harbor Wolverines, engaged in a fierce tussle Tuesday night, Jan. 2. The stands reverberated with stomping, cheering, clapping and booing fans and cheerleaders as the on-court battle raged fast and hard.

“It sure was a lot of fun. That gym was really loud. It was just a real rough and tumble game; we knew it would be real physical,” said head coach Terry Moran-Hodge.

In one particularly spectacular bit of half-court line thievery, Stefanie Shaw flicked the ball from her opponent’s grip and dribbled it right between the Wolverine’s legs for a quick drive to the basket. Lanie Padbury led the scoring with 18 points and nabbed 10 rebounds. Shaw sunk 15 points and made 6 steals. Alison O’Toole scored 6 points and Makenna Thomas scored 4.

The Wolverines played tough and deliberate defense.

“They were trying to isolate our two top scorers by putting special defense on them,” explained Moran-Hodge. As for the Vikes, “We use zone almost exclusively and pressed almost the whole game. [The Viking girls] ran it all the way to the bitter end. They never quit… we got behind and we battled back,” he said. The Woverines eventually prevailed, with a final score of 43 to 54.

“It was a tough loss,” said Padbury.

If the Viking girls win the next two games, they will get to kick off the play-offs on their own turf.

“The districts are going to be tough enough that we don’t want to give up the home court advantage,” said Moran-Hodge. Having already clinched a hard-earned spot at district playoffs, the girls have a chance enter as the top seed because Friday Harbor goes to another district at that point.

“They’re up for the challenge; they know what it takes to get to the next level. I am fully confident that those girls will use those losses as a springboard,” added Moran-Hodge.