Racking up more than points: Vikings basketball leaves their mark with a successful season

After hours of practice, dozens of games, and a whole lot of work, the Vikings basketball team had arguably one of their most successful, but unexpected, seasons in years. Their hard work, connection, and consistency as a team led them to a season full of victories. 

“The first time I saw potential was in the summer. We lost seven seniors a year before, so nobody really gave us a chance,” head coach Micheal McMeans said. “We competed against some of the best teams in Knoxville, and really played well. Then we start the year 12-0, and you’re thinking the team can be really special after that.” 

After summer tournaments, they went to compete in the Thanksgiving tournament and take home a victory against Clinton High School, a team they would see later in the season. Winter break was full of injuries and sickness, but they recovered and became champion of their conference and runner up in the district. 

By receiving runner up in district, this pushed them through to regionals, where they became regional champs. They beat Greeneville, a rival they had lost to prior this season. 

 “Greenville’s a great team, they’re young and athletic, so that was our talk for the game. It was just being ready for that.” Caiden Terry said.

However, the highlight of their season was arguably the home substate game. Hosting a substate game for the first time in 21 years, the team needed a crowd to support them in punching their ticket to the state tournament, and the city of Bristol showed up. 

“The crowd, the atmosphere [was crazy]. People I coached from South [high school] came, people from all over the place were here. That was awesome,” McMeans said. 

After a close game, 49-48, the Vikings came out on top. They finished their season by playing against Tullahoma in the state tournament quarter-finals, where the Vikings came up short with a final score of 45-44. Overall, the team had one of their most successful seasons of the century. 

“They’ll always have a special place in my heart, and I would do anything for any of them for the rest of their lives, and they’re just gonna be a team that goes down as one of my favorites that I’ve ever coached,” McMeans said. “They wanted me to push them hard. They let me get onto them. And they listened, and they did what we asked them to do.”