Print E-Mail AIM

Trojans eliminate Vikings' boys basketball team from playoffs

Puyallup nearly overcomes 25-point deficit, but falls just short in a loser-out contest against Auburn

Shaun Scott

There wasn’t a dry eye in the Puyallup Vikings boys basketball team’s locker room following their final contest of the 2009-10 season.

Auburn delivered a knockout blow to Puyallup’s season, grinding out a 63-57 victory in a loser-out district playoff game on Feb. 23 at Foss High School in Tacoma.

Auburn raced out to a an insurmountable 29-4 lead in the second period but Puyallup refused to fold, outscoring Auburn 41-26 in the second half. Vikings guard Dalton Daniels cut Auburn’s lead to 60-56 with a floater in the lane with 59 seconds left in regulation but the Viks wouldn’t get any closer the rest of the way.

Auburn outscored the Vikings 23-4 in the first period. Puyallup went 1-for-15 from the three-point line, which proved to be costly as the Vikings typically rely on shots from beyond the arc to score a significant portion of their points.

It was the final time Viks’ seniors Jare Sager, Devin Arndt, Alex Fraser, and Alex Reitan will don the purple colors of the Vikings. Sager said his team did it all it could to register a comeback win but it just didn’t come to fruition.

“We kept coming and kept fighting. We started playing our game for the last three quarters. We didn’t win but we went out with our pride,” Sager said. “We left it all on the court.”

Vikings third-year head coach Scott Campbell was proud of his team for nearly making the most prolific comeback in Vikings’ history.

“I think this game tonight is a representation of what these kids in this locker room are all about,” Campbell said. “They displayed great courage and character. They were down but they never gave up. Not too many high school basketball teams are as close as this group is. The way they care about each other is special. This is a special team.”

Campbell said he will always have fond memories of this year’s outgoing senior class.

“They are a great group of guys and have been with me since my first year as the head coach of the team,” Campbell said. “They’ve put in an unbelievable amount of time and effort into our basketball program and are a major reason why the program is where it is at today. They’ve helped create a basketball family.”