Vikings beat Friday Harbor; move on to tri-districts

by Corey Wiscomb

Sounder contributor

It was a very good week for the Lady Vikings Basketball team. On Tuesday, Jan. 31, the squad traveled to the Turnbull gymnasium in Friday Harbor to play the final game of the regular season against their arch-rival.

While the firls lost a nailbiter of a game on the first outing this season, the score was more decisive in favor of the Vikings this go around. Orcas finished the season with a solid 43-33 win against the Wolverines. Sophomore forward Lili Malo summed up the day in seven words: “That was a great ferry ride home.”

Orcas finished the regular season at 500, with a 9-9 record, but were more impressed with a 4-2 record in league play against same-size schools. For a young team that is still learning each other through the game, this season showed a lot of promise.

And it continued on Saturday, Feb. 4 as the Vikings earned home-court advantage for a playoff game against the Concrete Lions. Orcas came out firing from the tip and were a tour de force against the Lions. Strong offensive scoring and rebounding by Bethany Carter, both of which have become a staple of her game, led the way. And Ava Ashcraft was a defensive terror to the Concrete guards with numerous steals for fastbreak lay-ins. The game once again saw a nice rotation of all Viking players and every team member was able to contribute to the win. The final score was 67-13.

Next up for the Ladies will be a Feb. 7 playoff game at Lummi Nation High School against the Blackhawks who have home-court advantage. Orcas had been scheduled for a regular season matchup against Lummi Nation in early December, but the game had to be canceled due to weather reasons. This will be the first time this season the two teams have faced each other. No matter the outcome of the game, the Orcas Girls have now qualified for a spot in the Tri-District Tournament.

by Jefferson Freeman

Sounder contributor

The Orcas Vikings boys’ team is ready to make noise as they finish up the regular season and run head-on into playoff basketball.

The Vikings finished up their regular season with a trip to Friday Harbor, looking for the first season sweep, and the first road win against the Wolverines since 2017. The Vikings and their fans took the ferry ride to the opposing island. In a game where the Vikings were expected to win handily, the Wolverines came out with a surprising amount of energy and went bucket for bucket with the Vikings in the first half. In that same first half, Diego Lago broke the mark of 1,000 career points. Orcas went to the half up only 1-point in a hostile environment, a situation any coach would hope to avoid. But instead of continuing this way, they started to pull away. They soon had the Wolverines fighting to stay in the game and eventually slammed the door in their face. By the final whistle, the Vikings would turn their one-point lead into 24. The final score was 74-50.

Orcas would end up finishing second in the league with MVC claiming the top spot. When it came time for district seeding it was the Hurricanes who got the number one spot while the Vikings ended up at 3. This brought Fellowship Christian to Orcas. Fellowship was the sixth seed in the district. The Vikings got the exact start they wanted, going up 7-0 within a minute of tip-off. The game would continue on that path with the Vikes taking a 26-8 lead after just a quarter. By half time it was 54-15 and the Vikings seemed to be through their first playoff game of the season. The game finished with a final score of 82-36. Lago led the way with 23 points.

Next up on the path to state is Lummi Nation. The Vikings have split the season series with the Blackhawks winning at home and losing a game in Mount Vernon. Lummi holds the second seed in the district after coming out of their league on top of the pile.

No matter what happens here both teams will move onto tri-districts, but this is a big game for pride, for seeding and most importantly a shot at the district championship.