The Vikings didn’t like how things had gone for them over the preceding 10 days, and the used that bitter taste to play mad in their district opener on Monday, ensuring they didn’t feel that way again. Central built a double-digit lead early on against rival Walled Lake Western in the first game of a district doubleheader at Lakeland, rolling to a 58-34 win.
The Waterford Mott Corsairs kept their Lakes Valley Conference title hopes alive with a 60-47 win over the Walled Lake Central Vikings, handing the Vikings their first league loss of the season.
For the Vikings, it was finding out if they could navigate the pressure of South Lyon East’s frenetic, full-court, “all gas, no brakes” style of play, without the services of senior point guard Nick Hopkins, who missed the game with a minor injury. They did, rolling to a 58-44 win that kept the Vikings as the league’s only unbeaten team in Lakes Valley Conference play.
Nick (“The Quick”) Hopkins drove to the basket for a layup just before the overtime buzzer, giving the Vikings a 57-55 win over previously unbeaten Flint Kearsley in Thursday’s title game of the Lake Fenton Winter Classic, sending his team on break with a 7-1 record.
The Walled Lake Central Vikings are back from the dead on the boys basketball court. After several years of virtual irrelevance, the Vikings are off to a red-hot start to the 2023-2024 campaign and, practically out of nowhere, appear to be early front runners in the LVC title hunt.