POULSBO — It came down to the final three minutes of play but when Sheena Brundage fouled out, North Kitsap High School girls basketball coach Dan Weedin knew the squad was in trouble.
Brundage — the team’s tallest player at 5’10” — had spent much of the night fending off Olympic High School’s bigger players. With her out of the line up, the Trojans took charge of the paint and controlled the remainder of the game.
“They have two six footers,” Weedin explained. One of the Trojan’s towers, Brooke Sparling, nabbed eight boards. She also put five through the twine and tossed eight assists.
Brundage had matched Sparling’s in-the-paint effort with eight rebounds of her own. She also added six points to the Vikings’ score before taking the wood.
Despite trailing 17-9 after the first period, North Kitsap didn’t falter and fought back to within four by halftime. By the third quarter the Lady Vikings were enjoying their first lead of the game, albeit a small one, with 43 points to Olympic’s 41. But the Trojans, with Tiffany Jess’ game-high 16 points and 12 boards leading the pack, kept rapping at the door until the Vikes let them in at the foul line in the closing moments.
Coach Weedin said he was especially pleased with the strong showing from senior captains Jessica Bento, Sarah Bergman and Jennifer Ottele who all nailed double digits at the hoop with 14, 12 and 10 points respectively.
“Obviously it was a close game — it was a close game down to the end. A couple baskets and things changed. There were a couple of tough breaks and a couple tough calls,” he noted.
Explaining the early struggle against the 8-12 Trojans, Weedin said he opted to start some seniors “who typically don’t start.” The squad picked things up quickly though and got in a rhythm.
“They all went out there and played well,” he said. “In the end, I don’t think that really had a huge impact on the game’s outcome.”
North Kitsap’s 1-19 record was less than stellar but the team showed moments of brilliance throughout the season.
“It’s not for a lack of effort,” Weedin said, noting that although his girls had a rough year, they always remained positive for each game.
“It was not what we wanted record wise but during the year they never let their heads hang — and that’s something to be proud of,” he remarked.
While the Lady Vikings are losing Bergman, Bento and Ottele and Brita Nelson, Lisa Roberts and Kristina Jones, Coach Weedin said next year is indeed another year and with Brundage back in the line up, good things could happen.
The junior may have set an all-time record for blocks this year, he added, noting that she tallied 51 stuffs. Brundage had two last Friday against Olympic.
Olympic — (61) Lauren Haas, Via Thomas 2, Hailey Shapley 1, Lindsay Neste 14, Hope Hillman 6, Katie Sweet 1, Kim Fairbanks 11, Brooke Sparling 5, Tiffany Jess 16.
North Kitsap — (55) Sarah Bergman 12, Hailey Kiovu 3, Brita Nelson 2, Jessica Bento 14, Jennifer Ottele 10, Ashley Davis 2, Sheena Brundage 6, Jennifer Harris 6, Kristina Jones 2.
