by MARTY ZIER

Sports contributor

The fourth seed Lady Vikings fought a tough underdog battle against the top seed Toutle Lake Ducks last Saturday in a 57-47 loss in the 2B Regional playoffs at Mark Morris High School in Longview, Wash.

The Ducks, ranked second in the state, shocked the flat footed Vikings with a 15-0 run in the first quarter prompting Coach Gregg Sasan to call a timeout to calm his girls down. He said, “You guys are in for a fight. Compose yourselves and let’s go.”

It worked. Orcas shook off the nerves, broke the slow start and ended the quarter down only 19-10. Orcas settled down and spent the second quarter trading baskets with the Ducks, taking advantage of a Duck offense that fell off their first quarter blistering pace, ending the half down 32-20.

The Vikings continued to displayed resilience and maturity in a high pressure game putting together a 9-0 run in the third quarter, but the Ducks outside shooters nailed a handful of threes to maintain a 47-33 lead entering the fourth.

The Ducks, used to blowing out teams, found the pesky Vikings down only four points, 49-45, with 3:56 left after senior Alicia Susol nailed her third three-pointer of the quarter. But scaring the Ducks would be all the Vikings could achieve as the top seed team met the challenge to move on to the state playoffs in Yakima.

“They are the second ranked team in the state and we had our hands full. I think we surprised a lot of people who did not think we could play with them, and we did, we just ran out of time. I am very proud of the girls,” Sasan said.

Scoring was led by Alicia Susol with 14, Shelbi Rogers 12, Hannah Gaydos 12, Bella Nigretto 6 and Kilee Rogers 3.