Vikings ‘sharpen sword’ in rout of Kingston

By Nicholas Zeller-Singh North Kitsap Herald • January 25, 2023 1:30 am

The North Kitsap Vikings dominated the Kingston Buccaneers 79-47 Jan. 24 in boys basketball, remaining undefeated in Olympic League play.

“At this time of the year, we are sharpening the sword,” coach Scott Orness said. “Sometimes, we have a tendency to play around out there, leak out and make the Instagram accounts really fancy.”

NK held the Buccaneers from scoring their first field goal for the first three minutes into the game. Kingston’s Dakota Standley put the Bucs on the scoreboard with three free throws before Noah Walter made the first basket.

By the time Kingston scored, North Kitsap led 13-5. However, both teams struggled for a bit on offense when the tempo picked up, and turnovers began to pile up. “In the last couple of years, we could play fast and sharp,” Orness said. “We have a tendency to go back to it sometimes and it can get us into trouble.”

Cade Orness put the Vikings back on track with 10 first-quarter points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Both teams were slow in the second quarter, too. However, NK began to run its half-court offense against Kingston. “We need to work on our half-court offense because this team is probably more of a set team than in the past,” coach Orness said.

Harry Davies and Ethan Gillespie led the Vikings in the second quarter with six and four points.

“Ethan and Mason Chmielewski may have not shot well tonight but they have had some great games lately,” coach Orness said. “We are starting to play some good team basketball.”

The Vikings began to control the game in the second half, going on a 17-5 run in the first half of the third quarter. Davies and Orness scored 15 of those points. Then Jalen East and Jaxon Korsak picked up a couple of baskets as NK went into the fourth period with a 63-30 lead.

The Vikings and Buccaneers cleared the bench in the fourth quarter and allowed many of the substitutes and reserves to finish the game. Kingston’s Torsten Goller led the fourth quarter scoring with six points.

Orness led the Vikings with 17 points, and Standley led the Bucs with 14.

“We are just coming into our own, and I don’t think we have peaked yet,” Orness said. “Kingston played a physical game and was tough. I’ll give it to them for playing hard until the end.”