Vikings Hard Work Pays Off in 2018-19

It's one of the biggest turnarounds of the 2018-2019 season. The Caribou Vikings finished last season at six and 12 and lost in the prelims. This season, the Vikings brought in a new coach, a new attitude, and now they're one of the top teams heading into Bangor.

"We all thought we were overlooked at the beginning of the season," Senior guard Austin Findlen said. "Many people didn't think we were going to do as well as we have and definitely feels good to be up there in the standings."

Findlen also said the experience from past years has finally come to fruition.

"We're definitely a lot more mature than we were the past few years, we're mostly juniors now and a few seniors," Findlen said. "But we've put a lot of work in over the past 17 years for me and 16 years for most of them so it's definitely paying off now."

First year coach Kyle Corrigan knows he inherited a well rounded squad.

"This is a great team to start a career with, got a bunch of athletes who want to work hard on both sides of the basketball," Corrigan said. "It's been fun to watch them grow, they've always been, the last two years a lot of these guys were the youngest ones on the floor they're finally starting to be the older ones on the floor."

The Vikings all grown up and they've matured into a well oiled machine. Findlen is the senior leader, but Caribou's remaining starters are all talented and play a vital role. Like junior captain Parker DePrey

"Every shot Parker shoots we think it's going in," Corrigan said.

Point guard Alex Bouchard

"A kid who could look to score the ball a little bit more than he does but he'd rather get his teammates involved than put the ball in the hoop himself," Corrigan said.

Shooting guard Isaac Marker:

"He's a great scorer, he's another kid anytime he shoots it you think it's going in. If hits the front of the rim or the back of the rim he's just got such a soft touch," Corrigan said.

And Parker's younger brother Sawyer, the bruiser of the bunch

"He's usually undersized in his defensive match-ups but you'd never guess he's giving up 3 or 4 inches and 25 pounds, he's done a phenomenal job for us," Corrigan said.

What it all adds up to is a nightmare for opposing teams.

"Once we're in the flow of it, it feels like nobody can beat us," Junior captain Parker DePrey said.

Nobody has in the last 12 games, and DePrey credits Coach Corrigan's style of play.

"This year we really tried to do a lot of up and down stuff, coach corrigan has really tried to get us to fast break, 80 points a game our goal was to have five 80 point games this year," DePrey said.

They managed to score 80 four times this year, so they owe coach at least one more 80 point game, and they'll have to do it down in Bangor. They play the winner of Washington Academy vs. Orono on Friday night.