Vikings disappointed at districts

LAKEWOOD - The North Kitsap boys basketball team will need to take a detour if they hope to make their way to state this year.

The Vikings fell to Lakes, 66-60 Thursday in a district playoff game in Lakewood.

North will play a loser-out game Saturday against Franklin Pierce at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

Taylor Hoffer and Buddy Woodman each put up a double-double Thursday, but the effort was not enough to give their team the victory.

North jumped out to a 27-15 lead midway through the second quarter, but could not maintain the momentum in the face of an aggressive Lancer offense. Lakes finished the first half on a 3-pointer by Cedric Dozier, who had 20 points on the night. By the time the buzzer sounded, the Viking lead had dwindled to two.

"They closed the quarters out," said Hoffer, who had 25 points and 20 rebounds. "That right there just changed the whole momentum swing at the end of the quarter."

Lakes knotted things up in the third quarter, until North went on a 7-0 run to take a 42-35 lead. The Lancers fought back, though, and finished the quarter on a running layup by Andre Winston, Jr., to make it 50-46 in his team's favor.

"They're great athletes," North Kitsap head coach Tony Chisholm said of the Lakes team. "They just made some tough shots. In a game like this, it was down to putting the ball in the hole."

Lakes continued to own the game in the final quarter. The Vikings managed to pull within one with just over a minute left, but that was as close as they would get. Brandon Huggins fouled out with 1:09 on the clock, and was followed 15 seconds later by Kyle Erickson.

"We've just got another tough game ahead of us," said Chisholm. "It ain't over yet."

Contact North Kitsap Herald Schools/Sports reporter Brian Olson at bolson@northkitsapherald.com.

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