POULSBO — A swarming, physical defense that held the Vikings’ two most potent scorers to only six points combined with a 21-point fourth quarter outburst by the Foss Falcons kept North Kitsap from finishing what could have been quite the crossover upset.

The Lady Vikes were tied with Foss — a 21-win team that knocked South Kitsap out of the playoffs a year ago and one that has returned all five starters to action this season — at the end of the third quarter at 36 points apiece.

But the Falcons soared in the final eight minutes.

“We had six points between our two big players. If we’d had won this game with that … I’d had been astounded,” said Vikings’ head coach Dan Weedin.

Weedin and many of the Lady Vikes actually felt the close loss to a playoff-caliber team gives them confidence going into its Bridge Division season, opening tonight against Gig Harbor.

“They’re one of the best teams in the league. By playing them, we know what we can do,” said senior guard Molly McCluskey, who scored a team-high 14. “We have the potential, we were right there with them the entire way. We know we’re just as good if not better. We can take that to all the other teams in our league.”

“It pumps us up,” added senior post Katie Swanlund. “It puts our expectations high that we’re staying in games with teams like this.”

Having Swanlund and fellow post Jenna Reed — typically North’s highest scorers — held to only half-dozen points was perhaps the biggest difference in the game. Reed began the season with 29 in her first two contests but had only two in her third Friday night. Melissa Knittel, a 6’1’’ senior, guarded Reed the entire game and scored a game-high 17 points.

Though Swanlund grabbed nine rebounds and Reed added eight, the Falcons were able to garner second and third opportunities on the offensive glass, which didn’t help matters for the Vikings.

The Vikings also committed 28 turnovers, many of them forced by Foss guard Shaunt’e Nance, whose intensity on defense held the Viking perimeter players in check all game.

Viking point guard Rachael Kramer went down in the first quarter, after taking an elbow from Nance, and appeared to be clutching her recently bruised shoulder. The Viking starter did not return to the game, another blow to North Kitsap.

“The game’s different when Rachael’s not in,” Weedin said. “There’s a difference between playing a JV player (in) a game of this type of intensity and not having your starting point guard. You put all those factors together and we just couldn’t keep up with them.”

Backing up Kramer was Katie West, who had eight points and whose performance earned praise from Weedin.

Sophomore JV player Brenna Lander also got her first varsity action, scoring one point at the foul line.

The key for the team now is to finish games in the fourth and simply move onto the next game, McCluskey and Swanlund agreed.

“We played with a lot of heart,” said Swanlund. “We just need to finish the games we play.”

“It’s about moving on, next play,” McCluskey added. “We’re just going to get out there and play our game.”

Team notes: Kramer’s status at starting point guard is unknown, but it appears she may have re-injured a shoulder bruise she sustained in the team’s opening win against North Mason … The team plays at Gig Harbor tonight but Weedin likes the team’s chances, as the Tides played the Falcons earlier this season and lost by 17. “We’re ready to play Gig Harbor, we’re ready to play Bremerton (Friday),” Weedin said. “The kids are resilient, they’ll bounce back from this.” … Despite the loss, Weedin said the Vikings played, “the best first half of the year against a very good team.”