Petersburg’s Viking basketball teams hit the court in Haines last weekend against the Glacier Bears, after many long hours in transit. The boys’ varsity team solidly won both of their games, and the Lady Vikings lost theirs against a team of seasoned opponents.
It was a weekend of grueling travel on planes, ferries, and buses for Petersburg’s high school basketball teams.
Rick Brock coaches the Viking varsity boys. He said his team fought through their travel fatigue, and their performance far surpassed his expectations. They won both of their games — soundly.
“Any time you can even win one on the road — let alone, two — that’s a very good weekend,” said Brock.
The Vikings played their best of the two games on Friday, defeating the Glacier Bears 66-to-42. They maintained a consistent lead throughout the game. Senior Rik Cumps led the charge, scoring the most points: 17. Seniors Hunter Conn and Kieran Cabral were on his heels, each scoring 14 points.
Saturday’s game was somewhat closer — the Vikings won 63-to-48. Petersburg held a strong lead throughout, but the Glacier Bears almost caught up to them in the second quarter, when the Vikings got into some foul trouble.
Brock said his players are celebrating their victories. But, he still sees areas where the young team can grow.
“Our turnovers are still too high for our assist-to-turnover ratio, and we’re still not shooting the ball very well,” said Brock. “But for this part of the season, we’re about a third of the way through — and I like the progress that we’ve made.”
The Lady Vikings had a rougher start to their weekend. Their games followed a multi-day jaunt to Haines, according to their coach, Matt Pawuk. The team was in transit for over 24 hours, and had to overnight in Juneau.
“It’s always tough when you’re on the road and sleeping on air mattresses and not eating home cooked meals,” said Pawuk. “But that’s basketball in Southeast Alaska.”
The Lady Vikings took heavy losses in both of their games. On Friday, they trailed closely behind the Glacier Bears for the first three quarters. But by the fourth quarter, Pawuk said they started running out of steam. Haines won Friday’s game 42-to-23.
Pawuk said the Lady Vikings held their own a little better the next day. Their defense was stronger, but they still struggled to get the ball in the basket. The Glacier Bears won Saturday’s game 23-to-16.
Pawuk said travel fatigue wasn’t the only factor that determined Petersburg’s rough weekend. The Glacier Bears were just intense. But Pawuk wasn’t surprised. He said they have a region-wide reputation for being a particularly fast, well-conditioned team.
“They really only play about six players, but they’ve got three kids that basically never serve out and they didn’t have any trouble with not subbing out,” said Pawuk. “They get up and down the floor quickly, and [they’re] really, really athletic.”
After a 30-hour ferry ride, all the players made it back to school the next morning.
Petersburg’s varsity girls will stay home this weekend, and Pawuk said he’s glad. It will give the team time to train for their rematch with their rivals in Wrangell in late January.
“We’ll have two weeks to just practice and prepare,” said Pawuk. “And that’s against Wrangell — it’s a team that we’ve already seen before and played really tight. So I’m excited to see where we’re at. It’ll have been three weeks since we’ve played them and we’ll see what we can accomplish between now and then. I’m kinda glad, having the weekend off, we can just get in the gym.”
But the Viking boys won’t stay home this weekend. They’ll fly up to Anchorage to compete in a statewide tournament. Brock said Petersburg will be the only small school competing, but he’s excited to get his players on the court with some teams they haven’t played before.
“Anytime we get a chance to play up a level — and this time, two — it’s a great opportunity for us to really just test ourselves against really good competition, some bigger faster, guys,” said Brock. “And, hopefully, at the end of the weekend, we’ll be better than where we started.”
KFSK will broadcast the Vikings’ upcoming games live, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 18th.
