POULSBO — The Cougars might have won the first battle with North Kitsap, but it now appears that the Vikings will win the war.

At stake is second place of the Narrows’ Bridge — and with it a playoff home court advantage — which was a spot held by the Cougars. That is, until Wednesday night.

North and Central’s second go-around in Poulsbo ended officially with the Vikings’ Ryan Young towering for a block — or a goal-tend, if you’re a member of the CK squad — and resulted in a controversial 43-42 Viking victory.

“It was a great win,” said North Coach Aaron Nations. “It was the biggest win in their careers as players and my biggest win as coach.”

Reaction to the tightly-contested game was vastly different down the hall in the opposing team’s locker room, the Cougars feeling slighted by a referee’s non-call of goal-tending.

“It was a bad call,” said Central coach Tim Fryer, whose Cougars defeated the Vikings earlier this season. “(The ref) evidently saw it differently than everybody else in the gymnasium.”

North Kitsap (12-7 overall, 9-5 league) is now tied with Central (12-7 overall, 9-5 league) for the second spot but the position will be much more difficult for the Cougars to keep than the Vikings. NK went to last place Olympic for a late-game Friday last night whereas CK had to host the South Kitsap Wolves, the No. 1 team in not only the Narrows League, but in the entire state.

The game was also a far cry from their high scoring first match-up in Silverdale, one that ended in a Cougar 72-66 win. Both teams felt the pressure of the high-stakes game, ending the half with a low-scoring 17-16 CK edge.

“Both teams came out real tight and played that way most of the game,” Fryer said. “If one team would’ve relaxed, they would have blown the other team out.”

That was Nations’ reaction during the game as well.

“Coach stressed to us that the team that was going to wake up first was going to win,” Young said.

North’s strategy on offense was concentrated, as only four players — Jordan Henry, Young, Jacob Gonzales and Jared Prince — scored, three of whom cleared double figures.

The Vikings were without Henry for most of the game, injured while going up for a dunk in the first period. Henry sustained what appeared to be a concussion and a deep gash on his forehead that required stitches and a trip to Harrison Hospital. He’ll be out anywhere from one to two weeks, Nations said.

North took the lead with 3:35 to go in the game off a pair of Gonzales’ free throws. That lead was exchanged back and forth, but CK held a 42-41 advantage with just :23 seconds left.

North appeared to lose the ball in its ensuing final possession, but Gonzales surfaced with his eye on an inside jumper. Instead, he found Prince underneath the hoop for the two points that won the game.

“Jared’s a workhorse,” Young said of his teammate. “When we need a bucket, a board, he’s there. You could call him a utility man. He gets it done.”

Central had to traverse the length of the court with only nine seconds left. JR Gordon charged the ball up and Rick Bearbower ended up with the final shot. That’s when Young skied to make the controversial block, ending the game.

“I just got up and tried to kill it,” Young said of the block.

It was also the final regular season game for a large contingent of the team, including the starting five. However, securing second place would ensure the team another chance on the Viking hardwood.

“If this is our last senior game, then that’s the way to go out,” Young said. “But hopefully it’s not.”

Game notes: Henry was not the only one injured on the night. When the final buzzer sounded, Vikings’ coach Nations went for the celebratory “chest-bump” with Young. Unfortunately, Young’s momentum and force knocked Nations to the floor and left the two-year coach with a sore neck. “I came down hard,” Nations said, getting an ice-pack after the game … As for Henry, Nations said he believes the senior wing will be ready for North’s playoff run come Feb. 19 in the first round … Trainers to the rescue: Nations also commented that the team’s success could not have come without the help of Chris Franklin, Julie Leslie and the student athletic trainers. “They do a great job in there. They’ll get (Henry) as ready as they can.”