TACOMA — When Kentwood Conquers’ guard Blake Solomon got the ball at mid-court with only four seconds to go versus North Kitsap, everyone in the packed Foss gymnasium knew he had the hot hand.

But no one knew he could have been that hot.

As the buzzer sounded on the tie game, Solomon drilled a three from at least 35 feet away from the hoop — not far from the center court insignia — to send Kentwood into pandemonium and NK into heartbreak. The team that had hoped to qualify for state that night for the first time in 17 years.

When Solomon took the shot, the teams were knotted at 45 and the game appeared to be headed to overtime. Vikings’ post Ryan Young felt the world had stood still.

“When his shot went up, it was like time stopped,” he said. “That was the longest few seconds of my life.”

North’s Jordan Henry, who had the Viking game-high with 16 points, described the game winner as “devastating.”

“I was speechless,” he said. “But you’ve just gotta sleep it off and go out and get the next one.”

NK coach Aaron Nations, in spite of the flurry of emotions following a hard fought and tightly contested game, remained pragmatic.

“We’ve had three of these in a row. And one was bound to get us,” Nations said of the team’s two nail-biting wins last week versus Kentridge and Olympia. “And it got us.”

Solomon turned out to be the chief enemy of the Vikings all night. Though North had amassed a 29-19 lead heading into the locker room at the half, the Conquerors’ senior hit two unanswered threes to open the third quarter and put Kentwood right back in the game.

The Vikings utilized its strong transition play and outside shooting all game to compete with the Conquerors. Post player Young — along with any other strategy the Vikings used inside the paint — was constantly hammered by Kentwood’s double teams and physical presence underneath the basket.

The Conqueror defense was also aided by a very loosely officiated game in which few fouls were called. That was best indicated by the fact that Young, who normally scores around 20 points per game, had only seven all night, and was held scoreless in the entire first half.

Nations had the tough job of regrouping the Vikings following the game. But the second year coach knows North must re-focus to keep the season alive — especially for the Vikings’ seniors.

“It sucks to lose this one. But that’s basketball,” Nations said. “We can’t let it go right now. We have to go out and beat Bellarmine.”

The team has earned much respect among its Narrows League and West Central District opponents this season, finishing third in league while amassing a 16-8 record. It’s simply too early to throw in the towel on the season, many of the Vikings commented.

“We’ve just gotta go out and play hard,” Young said. “We lose another one and we’re done. We’ve worked too hard to get here.”