POULSBO — Fifty-two days and 16 games after starting their season, the North Kitsap girls’ Viking basketball players earned their first win Friday night.

Appropriately, it was a two-point edging of the Bremerton, a team that had earned its own two-point win over the Vikings earlier this year.

The Vikings outscored the Knights 12-1 in the crucial second quarter, then held on as the lead shrunk to win 58-56.

“More wins would have been nice,” said guard Sarah Bergman. “But it was appreciated, the one win that we have.”

The Vikings were led by center Sheena Brundage, who scored 14 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked five shots in the win.

Brundage thinks that improved passing and protection of the ball helped North get the win.

But most of it, she said, was earned at the free throw line, where the Vikings went 24-of-38, and she went 8-for-10.

“We made a lot of our free throws,” Brundage said, “That definitely won the game for us.”

Brundage also thinks the Vikings’ ability to keep a positive attitude helped.

“Even though we lost every game until Friday, we kept our attitude up. We go out there and want to win every game; we play hard.”

The team celebrated at the end, screaming and jumping up and down.

“Everyone was pretty psyched,” said Bergman.

Head coach Dan Weedin said, “It was obviously a huge relief for them.”

Weedin said the second quarter was the key to the game, as the Vikings buckle down on defense and held the Knights to a single point.

“It was a close game … we were happy to come away with the victory,” said Weedin.

The Vikings held a three-point lead as the clock ticked down, Weedin said. But one of the Knights banked in a jumper with 18 seconds left, and the Vikings had to protect the ball.

They got it to Bergman, one of the team’s top free-throw shooters, who split a pair of shots to give the Vikings a two-point lead and the win.

Jennifer Harris had 12 points for the Vikings, and Jessica Bento had 10. Bergman added nine points and three assists.

The team has three games left.

“We’re going to try to finish strong,” Bergman said.

“We want to win a few more games,” Brundage said. “We want to continue to improve. And we want to have fun.”