POULSBO — It’s a rollercoaster.

When it comes to basketball season, the ride through the year can have an indefinite number of ups and downs; the poise a team shows in the face of either reveals the character of its players.

The North Kitsap High School Lady Vikings started the season with an up and a down as they beat the King’s West Warriors, 54-42 Dec. 2 and fell to the Bainbridge Spartans, 63-33 Dec. 3.

Fatigue during the doubleheader was not a problem, said NK head coach Dan Weedin.

However, the team struggled with recovery against Bainbridge.

“We can learn that in a 32-minute game, not everything is going to be perfect and we’ve got to recover,” Weedin said. “We need to be prepared to take (opposing scoring) runs and be able to withstand.”

Against Kings West, the Lady Vikings started the season with a silky scoring run of their own. The energetic pace, courtesy of NK’s athleticism, saw the Vikes to a 19-8 lead by the end of the first.

While the Warriors wished for a battle waged out of the half court set, North’s frenzied full-court defense barely let them set up for most of the first half. When the Warriors did reach the offensive end, they sent the ball down low.

Kings West post Chloe Mosey got her motor running late in the first half, but most of her team-high 21 points came in the second half. NK’s Jade Neimeyer scored 18 to lead the Lady Vikes.

“It’s nice to know that running all those lines and suicide drills is worth it,” Neimeyer said of the team’s opening win.

North’s quickness pushed King’s West out of its element and the Warriors were forced to fight from behind. Trailing by 10, they fought back to salvage a 27-22 deficit at half time. But with a minute left in the third quarter Ali Lydick dropped a triple that pushed NK’s lead to 41-28, far enough to maintain for the rest of the game. After somewhat of an offensive stall for North in the fourth, the final buzzer sounded a 54-42 win for the Vikes.

Following her 18-point, seven-rebound premiere performance Friday night, Neimeyer said, “For Bainbridge, we will definitely have to step it up.”

North came out hyped, forcing a turnover on Bainbridge’s first pass, but they turned it over themselves at the other end. And so went the contest.

The Vikings showed defensive hustle reminiscent of Friday’s game in the first half against BI, but shots refused to fall. Perhaps from frustration, the first half introduced NK to foul trouble; four key players each racked up three before halftime.

“Defensively we played well,” Weedin said. “But somewhere at the end of the second quarter we lost confidence.”

North missed jumpers, free throws and even numerous three-footers as the Spartans methodically took the lead. The Viking deficit went nowhere but up in the second half as Bainbridge ran away with the 30-point win.

Neimeyer led the way for the Vikes with 10 points, Jasmine Hill scored eight, while Emily Farrar led all Spartans with 12 and Brittany Gray and Caitlyn Salo both contributed 11.

North will host Olympia at 7 p.m. today (Dec. 7) to try and find a way back to the “W” column.