POULSBO — Rebekah Baugh was somewhat nervous going into her first high school varsity basketball game. The North Kitsap High School freshman described it as “nerve-wracking.”

Despite any nerves, however, Rebekah and the North Kitsap Vikings girls team sent Chimacum home with a 63-36 defeat Wednesday night in the team’s first game of the season (non-league).

Rebekah, who plays year-round, ended the night with 28 points.

The team travels to North Mason today for its first league game, scheduled for 7 p.m.

Rebekah said the Vikings have plenty of outside shooters to choose from. Being able to push the ball inside should not be a problem either. The team still needs to work on its defense, she said.

Tim French would like to see a little more height on the North Kitsap girls basketball team.

The tallest players, according to the roster, are Indika Bray at 5-foot-11 and Indigo Williams at 5-foot-10.

However, “we will make up for [height] with intensity and our ball handling,” French said.

Judging by the team’s first game of the season, that may prove true.

This season, the team has six seniors who will bring leadership. The 2010-11 team did not have any seniors. Though leadership is an intangible aspect of a team, French said he can already tell it’s there.

This season, French expects Bremerton, Kingston, Olympic and Port Angeles to be among the tougher opponents.

French had the team working on conditioning to try and mitigate problems the 2010-11 team faced. One of the main issues was being able to finish games. Of the league games the team played, four of those ended with the Vikings three points or less behind their opponent.

With more conditioning, French is confident in the team’s ability to avoid those narrow defeats.

“If we’re in better shape, we will have a better chance at winning those closer games,” he said.