Vikings open Basketball season Friday

Nov 18

Written By Curtis

The Vikings Basketball teams had their home opener on Friday against Montgomery Central. Leading up to opening night, the Viking Men’s team has been hard at work. Last season the Vikings finished 9-14 overall and 2-10 in the conference. The Vikings look to improve that this season.

“We did not have many guys who were competing in fall sports. There was a consistent amount of young men in the gym every day getting better and competing against each other,” said Coach Zachary Marks.

The Vikings will use their smarts and speed on the court this season. “The team is looking fast. That is our strongest suit. We have great young men with basketball IQs who can play smart and communicate well with each other,” said Marks.

With only losing three players last season, the team has built a tight bond and the Vikings are hoping to use that this season. “There are eight guys on this team who received meaningful minutes last year, so I am looking at all of them to make a jump from last year to this year,” said Marks. “We also have three great sophomores who are now on varsity who can start or get minutes at any point.”

Trent Hilburn returns this season after making all conference last year. Jackson Sales, Zion Kiser, and Grey Booker are returning as seniors from last year. “They have done a tremendous job leading both on and off the court,” said Marks. “Jaylen Kyle and Aiden Leonard played a lot of minutes for us last year. Sophomore Kingsley Donaldson has had a tremendous offseason and we are hoping that he has the confidence to be a force in the conference and all 24+ games.”

Eight of the twelve team members that make up the Vikings played last year. “I am looking for all twelve of them to compete and contribute in all aspects. “We are deeper than last year, faster than last year, and more scrappy than we have ever been,” said Marks. “We had three guys who made a huge impact for us last year that left/graduated, so this team will have their own identity, and have done a great job putting the work in together.”

“I know we have the team that will compete and fight until the very end of all games, whether win or lose. I know we can make a lot of noise this year, and we are hoping to show people just how much work we have put in. We have a new coaching staff, who are tremendous with our players as well and are being great role models for these young men. We are going to get in your face and play defense as hard as we can for 32 minutes and hope that leads to some easy buckets for us. We are very excited about this upcoming season and ready to get started,” said Marks.

The Vikings opened their season on Friday with a big win. They put away Montgomery Central 75-28 to start the season 1-0. Jaylen Kyle led the team with 20 points, Wesley Bailey with 10 points, Kingsley Donaldson and Zion Kiser with 8 points, Trent Hilburn and Lawson Fields with 7 points. The Vikings’ next game will be Tuesday, at South View.

The Vikings Men’s Varsity schedule is as follows:

11/17 - vs Montgomery Central 7:30pm

11/21 -@ South View 7:30pm-

11/28 - @Montgomery Central 7:30pm

11/29 - vs Western Harnett 7:30pm

12/1 - @ Gray’s Creek 7:30pm

12/4 - @Douglas Byrd 7:30pm

12/5 - vs Gray’s Creek 7:30pm

12/8 - @ South Johnston 7:30pm

12/12 - @ Lee County* 7:30pm

1/5 - @ Scotland* 7:00pm

1/9 vs Richmond* 7:30pm

1/12 vs Hoke County* 7:30pm

1/18 vs Harnett Central 7:30pm

1/19 vs Southern Lee* 7:30pm

1/23 vs Pinecrest* 7:30pm

1/26 vs Lee County* 7:30pm

2/2 vs Scotland* 7:30pm

2/6 @ Richmond* 7:30pm

2/9 @ Hoke County* 7:30pm

2/13 @ Southern Lee* 7:30pm

2/16 @ Pinecrest* 7:30pm

The Lady Vikings also opened their season Friday night at home against Montgomery Central. They put up a hard fought fight taking the game into overtime, but lost 55-49. Vikings junior Alley Hise had 15 points. Sophomore Savannah McCaskill (10 points, 8 rebounds), senior Corryn McCutchen (10 points), and junior Taryn Pekala (7 points, 4 steals, 3 assists).The Vikings will travel to Southview on Tuesday.

Their season schedule is as follows:

11/21 @ South View 6:00pm

11/28 @ Montgomery Central 6:00pm

11/29 vs Western Harnett 6:00pm

12/1 @ Gray’s Creek 6:00pm

12/4 @ Douglas Byrd 6:00pm

12/5 vs Gray’s Creek 6:00pm

12/8 @ South Johnston 6:15pm

12/12 @ Lee County* 6:00pm

12/19 @ Opponent TBA Time TBA

12/20 @ Opponent TBA Time TBA

12/21 @ Opponent TBA Time TBA