Vikings fall to Mt. Edgecumbe

The Petersburg Vikings played host to Mt. Edgecumbe for two basketball games over the weekend and played hard but ended up defeated both nights.

“Friday night the game started out good for us,” Head Coach Rick Brock said. “We were passing the ball against their pressure and attacking it.”

Brock explained that Mt. Edgecumbe made a bit of an adjustment toward the end of the first quarter.

“We just went cold in the second quarter,” Brock stated. “We went several minutes without scoring and we lost our momentum and went into half-time behind 21 to 23 but definitely still in the game.”

The Vikings came out in the third quarter and tried again but ended up down 31 to 28 after seven empty possessions in a row.

“Mt. Edgecumbe was able to grab the lead and went into the fourth quarter ahead 36 to 33,” Brock stated. “We had opportunities again to pull ahead in the middle of the fourth be we just weren't able to score and we missed some key free-throws and ended up losing the game 52 to 40.”

Brock also explained that they had some stretches where they just didn't play well on the offensive end and they struggled defensively because of the way they were shooting the ball.

Leading the Vikings in points was Michael Brock with 18 points followed by Colby Bell with 12 and Dan Loucks with six points.

“The pace of the game Saturday was different,” Brock said. “I thought it was a little cleaner play in the first of the game.”

He explained that they didn't come out strong and they were behind 13 to nine at the end of the first quarter, but he felt they were playing pretty well.

“In the second quarter we did a nice job defensively and held them to six points and scored eight of our own,” Brock stated. “Again, we went into the half down 17 to 19 and still in the game.”

The Vikings came out in the third quarter and hit a dry spell and missed six free-throws in a row at a real critical time because they were definitely within striking distance of the lead.

“Defensively we were doing a good job and held them to 11 in the quarter, but we just couldn't score,” Brock stated. “We went into the fourth quarter down 29 to 21 just a three possession game and there were times in the quarter that we could have converted and we had some untimely turnovers and we missed some baskets that we could have and should have made.”

The Vikings fell to Mt. Edgecumbe with a score of 44 to 32. Bell led in scoring with eight points followed by Jared Volk with seven points.

“I felt in both games we did some good things offensively,” Brock said. “We broke their pressure at times and scored and other times we struggled through the half court set and consequently we didn't shoot the ball that well.”

Brock also explained that defensively there were moments in the game where they did a good job of containing their scores and making them work but the Vikings broke down at the wrong time and just didn't play well enough for a long enough period of time to be successful.

“We just didn't get enough contributions from enough people,” Brock stated. “But the things we are struggling with now, we can fix or make better.”

The Viking boys will play at home again this week against Sitka Friday and Saturday evenings at 6 and 7:30 p.m.

The Viking girls will travel to Ketchikan for the weekend.