POULSBO — The visitors’ locker room at North Kitsap High School is separated from the home locker room by a single wall, and after the Vikings’ loss to Port Angeles Wednesday night, NK head coach Bob Fronk briefly grew silent when the sound of muffled cheering made its way through that wall.

“It sounds like they’re celebrating,” he said of the neighboring Roughriders. “And they should be.”

The Vikings, who had jumped off to a fast league start after defeating Bremerton, South Kitsap, and Bellarmine, were slowed down considerably by Port Angeles, which erased a nine-point fourth-quarter lead to beat the Vikings 50-48.

And, while the Vikings were without the services of second-leading scorer Jerrod Gonzales, who had the flu, the fourth-quarter collapse was inexcusable, Fronk said.

“That was horrible,” he said.

The Vikings had jumped out to an early lead on the Roughriders, thanks to the early hot hand of two players: center Bryan Haupt, who scored 14 first-half points, and point guard Josh Mathews, who shot 8-from-11 for the night from the field and used a three-pointer, pair of layups, and a pinpoint pass to Reid Ammann to help the Vikings build a lead of more than a dozen points.

But the Roughriders had some hot hands of their own, and in the fourth quarter they began to chip away.

A three-pointer by Matt Sinnes and a fancy over-the-head assist by 5’11” guard Matt Johnson helped the Roughriders erode the Vikings’ lead … and Johnson was just getting started.

A three-pointer by Johnson cut the lead to seven; a steal plus a Johnson layup made it a precarious five; and when Johnson fired a three-pointer from well beyond the arc that found its target, the Roughriders were down by only two.

While Fronk gives Port Angeles credit, he thinks the Vikings’ fatigue helped worsen the slide.

“They weren’t reacting. They were a step too slow getting to the shooters. And they (Port Angeles) were knocking them down,” Fronk said.

The most painful shot may have been taken by Nate Gossard, who fired a three-pointer from the corner to grab the lead for the Roughriders.

They never let go.

Port Angeles’ Jordan Tschimperle hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to three; the Vikings’ Chad Foster hit a free throw to bring the Vikings within two; but when Foster intentionally missed the second free throw with two seconds left in the game, a jostled Haupt could not convert on the offensive rebound — and Port Angeles escaped with the victory.

“It’s been a wild ride,” P.A. coach Lee Sinnes said after the victory.

Sinnes credited his team’s attitude for the win, noting that the Roughriders had played in four one or two-point games, and won three of them. “We’ve been there before,” he said.

While the Roughriders (5-6, 2-3 in league) exited North Kitsap with the win, the Vikings were left to learn from the game.

“We learn from our wins,” Fronk said. “And unfortunately we have to play a game like this to learn something else.”