by Marty Zier

Sports contributor

The Orcas boys basketball team spent the week on the road with three consecutive road games. First stop was a 62-48 league win versus Cedar Park Christian MLT on Jan. 19.

“The team played well from tip to horn and pulled in a solid victory,” said coach Corey Wiscomb. “We had a balanced attack, with nearly all players on the team contributing to the scoring.”

Next stop on the off island tour was a 67-51 win at Mt. Vernon Christian on Jan. 21. Despite the margin, Wiscomb acknowledged a tougher opponent.

“MVC has a good coach and a solid athletics program that invests heavily in youth sports, so they are always going to have a good run ready for you,” he said. We also knew we were being scouted pretty heavily for our next game, so before the tip, we made a quick adjustment and ran a press that we’ve shown many times before rather than some of our newer defensive tactics. Jordan Randolph was quick like a fox and penetrated gaps to set up low buckets to Miles Harlow, Aidan Kruse, and Brother Murphy.  Pasha Bullock also used his floater to penetrate gaps and elevate for quick jumpers from the inside. Vanya Bullock took any wind out of the Hurricanes’ sails by shooting 5/6 from the 3-point line and led all scorers in the game with 24 points, his season high.”

The purported highlight game of the week ended with a loss to LaConner 57-37 on Jan. 23. This was a battle for #1 in league as the Braves are 10-0 and Orcas is tied with Friday Harbor at 8-2.

“LaConner adjusted quickly to our half court defense and that hurt us in the first quarter,” Wiscomb said. “We changed to man to man in the second quarter and held the Braves the remainder of the game to only 36 points, so our defense for three periods was outstanding. All game our offense produced great looks at the basket but we just couldn’t get that last little bit of finish in our step… At the beginning of the season we set a goal as a team to win league and until this game we were on track.  The team never once lost focus on what we were trying to do and never gave up. The locker room after was somber, but there was no bickering, no whining, no blaming. In that way we’ve grown and matured. I’m very proud of our effort despite the final score.”

The Lady Vikings basketball team started a road week with a 47-40 win against Cedar Park Christian MLT on Jan. 19.

“They are a tough team. I expected a tough game and it was,” said coach Gregg Sasan. “They play with a lot of confidence at home and they have not beat us yet, so I expected them to come out pretty aggressive. They came out with a fast start, but I did not expect them to come out as fast as they did.”

After winning their first meeting in overtime earlier in the season, the Ladies dropped their second game 37-35 against Mt. Vernon Christian in another tight battle on Jan. 21. The two evenly matched teams stayed within a couple points the entire game, but Sasan was disappointed this one slipped away after gaining a four point lead with a little over a minute left.

“The close ones are the hardest ones to lose,” he said. “We shot pretty well, but so did the Hurricanes. I thought our defense played really well. The game came to down to a late game foul by us and the Hurricane player made both of her free throws…and then we lost the ball on an inbound pass. They are a very good team and I wanted to beat them again, it just did not turn out that way.”

The 4-4 Lady Vikings ended the week with a 59-35 loss to the 10-0 LaConner Braves on Jan. 23.

“I don’t know what happened there,” Sasan said. “Somebody put a lid over our bucket. We also had a lot of turn overs and bad passes, which always hurts us. We seem to always have more turnovers against the Braves and I don’t know if it’s the pressure or what. We practiced for LaConner’s defense but when it comes to game time, we just fall apart. Combine that with poor shooting and it’s a long night. They are a good, well coached club. They aren’t 10-0 for nothing.”

The Vikings had some injuries from high elbows which were ignored by the officials.

When Sasan was asked about it, he smiled and said “I never say anything bad about the officiating, but I told them someone was going to get hurt and they did.”

Both Viking basketball teams took  on Friday Harbor at home on Tuesday, Jan. 26.