POULSBO — The winds are clearly blowing in the right direction for the North Kitsap Vikings basketball program. After enduring a two-win season during the 2006-’07 campaign, Vikings coach Tony Chisholm’s squad is showing signs of a transformation that could conceivably turn the NKHS gym into a basketball mecca this winter.
The groundwork for the 2007-08 season is being laid during the heat of summer.
The Vikings put forth a stellar 7-1 record at the Western Washington University high school team basketball camp from June 25-29 in Bellingham, capturing the camp championship after a convincing 48-32 victory against Monroe High School in the finals. The camp brought in 16 schools between the 3A and 4A classification.
“Being in that kind of college atmosphere for four days in the dorms brought our team closer together,” Chisholm said. “It was great for team unity. Our team is pretty close. We did well as a team. I am very proud of them.”
Players competing on the Vikings summer ball varsity squad include Jordan Coover, Taylor Hoffer, Taylor Chisholm, Brandon Huggins, Tyler Seth, Kyle McCown, Nathan De Guzman, Max Skelly and Travis Ejde.
Coover led the scoring parade for the Vikings in the championship contest against Monroe.
“He just took over. He scored 21 points,” Chisholm said. “The guys knew he was hot and kept feeding him the ball and he wanted the ball, too. He’s capable of doing that all the time.”
While the offense was productive, Chisholm said the defense helped cement the wins.
“Our team defense was the reason we were able to win it. That was the key to everything,” he said. “I put Kyle (McCown) on the opposing team’s best guy in every game and he shut them down. If I had to give out an award for best defensive player of the camp it would go to him.”
Chisholm also praised Hoffer for his gritty play in the low post.
“He played pretty well all around and grabbed a lot of rebounds for us,” he said.
In addition, North’s JV squad performed admiraly during the camp.
“Our JV team did a great job,” Chisholm said. “They got third place out of 16 teams.”
