POULSBO — Some holes are impossible to dig out of.

The North Kitsap Lady Vikes (8-7, 3-6) found that out when the top-ranked Narrows League team, Central Kitsap (15-0, 9-0) ventured North Jan. 25 to take on the hopeful Vikings. Though North is determined to secure a playoff spot, the Vikings’ resolve didn’t shine in the first half Wednesday night.

“They came out and threw their blitz package at us,” said NK coach Dan Weedin. “Central is one of those teams that when they smell blood, they go for the kill.”

The Cougars jumped out to an eight-point lead in the first two minutes, while North started with eight total turnovers in the first quarter.

As the first quarter clock ticked under four minutes, Central led 12-0, leaving North desperate for a basket. Finally, Rachel Kramer stepped up and knocked down a leaping leaner as the shot clock expired to put the Lady Vikes on the board. Still NK appeared intimidated.

Lady Cougar Randie Lee rubbed some salt in the purple wound when she nailed a triple right in front of the North bench in the waning seconds of the first. Katie West responded with a three for North, but the damage had been done as the quarter ended 23-5.

“I think we gave them maybe too much credit for being who they were and we didn’t come out with the same intensity,” Weedin said.

The purple intensity picked up in the second quarter, but the invisible lid over the basket didn’t budge. Though the Lady Vikes slowed the Central scoring flood, they only managed a single point in the quarter, giving CK a 33-6 lead at the break.

“(Central) is a great team, one of the best in the state I believe, however, that first half was not our best,” Weedin said, adding that he was unsure of what sealed the basket shut to Lady Viking shots. “(On offense) we just lacked movement, that’s something we’ll have to take to the practice court because honestly I was surprised.”

In the second half, Kramer took it upon herself to steer the Lady Vikes through the storm. She opened the half with a steal — which North couldn’t convert — and followed with two triples.

The six-point boost was just a raindrop in a gymnasium-sized bucket, however, it sparked an energy within the NK ranks. Jasmine Hill echoed with a big presence on the defensive glass, and Jade Niemeyer sank two free throws and a three in the second half, but as the old adage goes — too little, too late.

The Lady Vikes actually came back to out score the Narrows League juggernaut by a count of 23-22 in the second half.

But 18 team turnovers spelled doom for NK, as did the fact that the leading purple scorer, Kramer, scored eight points on the game, while Megan Hoisington, Kayla Bennett and Randie put in 15, 11 and nine, respectively, for CK.

“No excuses, we didn’t execute,” Weedin said. “First of all, we learn from it, then we will debrief it, dump it and turn our attention to Shelton.”

The Lady Vikings hosted the Shelton Highclimbers (3-12, 1-8) last night but results weren’t available at press time.

It was the first game of a daunting task ahead of the Lady Vikings who must win the remaining four regular season games if they are to have a shot at shaking things up in Bridge standings and earning a berth into the postseason this year.