“POULSBO – The North Kitsap girls’ basketball team stopped one Cougar Tuesday night, but they couldn’t stop them all. The Vikings went into the game hoping to contain the Cougars 15-PPG scorer, Adria Layne. Coach Dan Weedin even started two of his taller players, Sheena Brundage and Shennell Harris, to try to neutralize the Cougars’ tall front line, which includes the 5’11 Layne. And while Harris and Brundage were successful, combining for eight blocks and holding Layne to eight points, the Cougars struck instead from the outside, burying the Vikings beneath a barrage of jumpers and winning the game 56-49. In the first few minutes, it appeared as if the Cougars would run away with the game, as they streaked to a 10-0 lead. But the Vikings fought back. Harris hit a jumper, then a banked a second jumper home for the Vikes’ first four points. Then it was Alice Wood’s turn, as she scored six straight points, two of them from a Mari McKinstry inbounds pass that found Wood beneath the basket. Wood’s final jumper of the quarter tied the game at 10, and when Mari McKinstry hit a three-pointer as the final seconds of the first quarter ebbed, she tied the game at 13. The teams traded baskets in the second quarter. A Jessica Bento jumper was followed by a Layne basket earned under the basket. Harris scored off an offensive rebound, but a pair of Nicole Zygmontowicz free throws gave the Cougars a 22-21 lead. The Vikings’ 32 scored the final four points of the half, and North carried a 29-25 lead into halftime. As the first half opened, it appeared that North would survive the ten-point deficit they faced in the first quarter. Sheena Brundage twice scored off offensive rebounds, and North jumped to a 39-31 lead. Later Weedin said, I thought we had gained momentum. But after with North focusing on the Cougars’ inside game, it gave their jump shooters a chance to shine, and shine they did, led by Nicole Zygmontowicz. Zygmontowicz, only a sophomore, hit a layup in the third quarter, was fouled, and drained the free throw. She followed that with a jumper, then added a second jump shot to give the Cougars a 40-39 lead as the third quarter ended. While North briefly stole the lead back in the fourth quarter, the Central Kitsap man-to-man defense stifled the Vikings into scoring only eight points in the final frame. And Central continued to score, the backbreaker coming from a Sunshine Monastrial three-pointer. Monastrial’s shot gave CK a four-point lead with less than two minutes to go. Behind a tough second-half defense and 27 points from Zygmontowicz, the Cougars took the game. That was a tough game, said Cougar coach Denise Baxter. I thought we stole it at the end. Baxter said, The girls knew what was on the line. They know they’ve got to come out and play every night. While Cassie Llewellyn grabbed a big offensive rebound down the stretch and Monastrial’s shot put the game away, Coach Baxter saved some praise for Zygmontowicz. On hearing that Zygmontowicz had 27 points Baxter said, She can do it. She can drill it from anywhere. The win enhanced the Cougars’ postseason hopes by elevating their record to 10-3 in league, 13-4 overall. The Vikings were dropped to 9-8, and coach Dan Weedin knows more tough tests remain ahead, with North Kitsap having to face Bainbridge Island and Port Angeles in back-to-back road games to end the season. I was disappointed, Weedin said, but not with the effort. The game, Weedin said, was the best the Vikings made in a month. We moved the ball much better and rotated well against their zone, Weedin said, but admitted that when the Cougars went into man-to-man defense, the Vikings didn’t respond as well as they could have. Central Kitsap’s a good team, he said. (Central Kitsap (56) – Zygmontowicz 27, Monastrial 8, Layne 8, Llewellyn 7, Stangler 6) (North Kitsap (49) – McKinstry 11, Wood 9, Harris 8, Curfman 7, Brundage 6, Ross 4, Bergman 2, Bento 2, Brownlee) NOTES: The North Kitsap junior varsity beat Central Kitsap before the varsity game, 44-31. Hailey Koivu led the Vikings with 10 points, Daysha Lopez scored eight, and Jenn Harris added eight). “