Williams Vikings struggle to keep playoff hopes alive

The Williams Vikings endured two tough losses to higher ranked teams in their section last week.

Williams' first game was against Salt River on Jan. 7 in Phoenix. The Vikings lost the game by six points, 55-49.

Head coach Rico Dunn said the team had an outstanding defensive game until the fourth quarter when the Vikings got into foul trouble and had a few mental lapses.

"That's where the game got away from us," he said.

The Vikes held Salt River to four points in the first quarter and 15 points in each of the next two quarters. But Salt River finished off the Vikings with 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Without Colton Grantham, recovering from health issues, the Vikings did not have the offense they needed to prevail over Salt River.

"We played our best defensive game of the year by far," Dunn said. "We really frustrated them. Their coach complimented me on my guys' efforts."

But Dunn said the Vikings really needed someone to hit a shot or two and that did not happen.

"There's nights when you need someone to step up and give you that shot that can give you that spark and that just did not happen that night," he said.

The Vikings next loss was to Veritas Preparatory Academy on Jan. 9 in Williams. The final score was 92-69.

Dunn said Veritas shot well as a team overall. Veritas had two athletes score more than 20 points and another two who came close. And Vertias has an outstanding shooting guard who did not miss the hoop often.

"We really pressured him and made him earn every shot he took but he still wasn't missing," Dunn said. "They shot 68 percent from the field which is just outstanding."

Veritas pulled away early and while the Vikings kept it close to the half, Veritas extended its lead in the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, the Vikings were dealing with foul troubles and fatigue and not making the best decisions on which shots to take. Veritas pulled away.

Despite the loss, Dunn said he was really proud of his team.

"There's a lot of talent in that program down there and for our guys to hang on the way we did as long as we did was just outstanding with how shorthanded we've been lately," he said.

The game against Veritas was Grantham's first game back and despite a little fatigue and working to get his legs back under him Dunn said Grantham played a great game.

Grantham put up 14 points. Leo Lopez scored 20 points. Dunn said Andrew Karlsberger stepped up for the Vikings scoring 19 points but outside of Devin Orozco knocking in 14 points, the Vikings did not have any more offensive production.

"I had five guys score and the only other person on the board was Aidan Grantham with two," Dunn said.

He said his players are working as a team better but are still not where Dunn believes they can be.

"I really want us to be the team that people don't want to face," he said. "A team that can shut down the greatest scorers in the state. I think the effort is starting to get there we just need a little more pressure and I think that will come with these guys having time in the system."

Dunn said while it would have been better if the Vikings won, at least they were not losing to teams ranked behind them. But he knows it is going to take a lot of work for the Vikings to get to where they want to be - a spot in the state tournament.

"I believe in the guys putting in the effort to get what we need to do, to get that done to get there," he said. "It's just going to take a lot of work on my part and their part to beat teams that are more athletic and from larger schools."

Dunn said one of the keys to getting to the state tournament will be having all his players back and healthy.

Austin Kennelly and Ryan Smiley were both out.

"I believe in what we're doing," he said. "I think if we play our game... we can do some damage."