The Viking girls basketball team competed in a two-day tournament in Darrington at the end of December, coming away with two wins.
The Lady Vikings played Tulalip Heritage in what appeared to be an easy win as the Vikings cruised to a 23-point lead in the third quarter. However, the game ended in overtime with Orcas sneaking away with a 70-66 win.
“Tulalip is a very good team, very physical, and they run and gun,” Coach Gregg Sasan said. “We gave away a big lead. We quit shooting and got satisfied, but the girls stepped up in overtime. We had nice balance in scoring with Bella Nigretto with 12, Alicia Susol 13 and Shelby Rogers 18. I was pretty happy with that.”
The next morning the Lady Vikings beat Shorewood Christian 49-45.
“We were tired, very tired, after sleeping in the gym at Darrington,” Sasan said. “Even though we were exhausted, it was really good for us to get in more games. Hannah Gaydos had 16 points and Alicia Susol had 15.”
The Ladies lost on Jan. 4 to the Coupeville Wolves 50-44, in a game the Vikings kept close all quarters. The Wolves combined height in the paint and consistent outside shooting.
“They are a larger 1A school, very physical, but we expected that. We did not box out well and did not hit our buckets. We did not finish well despite having open looks,” said Sasan. “Scoring again was fairly even with Alicia Susol with 13, Hannah Gaydos 11, Shelby Rogers 8 and Bella Nigretto with 6.”
The girls play LaConner on Jan. 10.
The Viking boys team lost to Tulalip Heritage 72-41 and the next day lost to Shorewood Christian 91-54 the last weekend in December.
On Jan. 4, the boys traveled to Coupeville and lost to the Wolves 84-37.
Head Coach Josh Mayson was forced to start a young lineup, including three freshman against the 1A Wolves with only seniors Jack Gates and Jack Russillo starting.
The Wolves played a complete game, controlling the paint, feeding inside shots and hitting a good percentage of outside shots.
According to Mayson, the young lineup was due to a number of Vikings either missing practices or being ill over the holiday break. Gates scored 20 while Russillo scored 4.
The Vikings play in LaConner on Jan. 10.
