Sweet sixteen means bittersweet goodbye for Vikings girls basketball

A jam packed gymnasium two-and-a-half hours away saw the Wareham Vikings girls basketball team give it their all one last time this season. 

The team fell 54-51 against Hampshire Regional Middle High School in a tight game, knocking the team out of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's playoff tournaments in the round of 16. Head coach Mike Fortune said the girls "fought hard."

"After doing this for a few years, there's a lot to manage," he said. "The only thing I can really ask for them is to be responsible with their efforts. And they've pretty much done that all year."

Fortune highlighted the success of getting a tournament win for the first time for this group of players. The team won the round of 32 Saturday, Feb. 28 59-29 against Brooke Charter High School. 

He described his teams Monday loss as difficult, but said his players "weren't timid." 

"I was pleased that we didn't play scared," Fortune said. 

Though tears fell from seniors, Fortune joked that the prospect of fast food on the bus ride home brought any low spirits back up. 

"From the seniors, its hard when the realization comes that "this could be it, this is the last time I'm going to ever touch a basketball again,"" he said. "That's hard for some of them. But what I've learned is that the girls' emotional swings can be from tears to, "Hey wait there's a Chic-Fil-A on the ride home, right?"

Overall, Fortune said he ended the season on a "great night." 

"I was proud of them," he said. "They busted their rear ends and played hard."

The Wareham High School boys basketball team also advanced with a win against Tech Boston Academy, going 82-61. The boys move on to the next round of 16 and will face off against South Hadley High School Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at Wareham High School.