As the Vikings finish up their first quarter of the season, their start to the season has surprised many with a shocking 0-2 start. But the Vikings have rallied, and gone on a three game win streak to remind the competition that they are still to be taken seriously.

Michael O’Brien of the Chicago Sun Times once  ranked the Vikings as the tenth best team in Illinois and had a lot of positive things to say about this year’s team.

“Yaris Irby and Reid Olson may be the area’s best senior backcourt. Guard Dylan Lam is underrated and 6-5 Hunter Gawron can be unstoppable in the post. The Vikings’ upside is massive, [and] they could be one of the best teams in school history,” O’Brien said in his Nov. 21 rankings.

But after these rankings were published, the Vikings would lose their first game of the season to the defending 3A IHSA State Champions DePaul Prep. Then the very next day, they would go back on the road the next day to drop their next game to Lane Tech. These brutal couple of losses were highlighted by the absence of senior guard Yaris Irby who missed the first five games of the season. Along with an absent Irby, poor defense, an inability to clutch comebacks in the late stages of the game, and a realization that high power offense would not solely win games would also lead North to fall to the 18th ranked spot, come O’Brien’s Dec. 1 rankings.

“We were giving up 70 points per game, we thought we could outscore people. And we realized we weren’t good enough to do it,” Head Coach Glenn Olson said.

But after Thanksgiving, the Vikings woke from their turkey coma, coming out and winning their next three games. Their first win came in a close game against Phillips, their second a dominating 84-38 win against Amundsen in the Niles North Vikings’ home opener, and their third and arguably biggest win yet came last Friday, December 6 against Niles West to keep the Crosstown Classic Trophy on Lawler Street.

“This has been a rebirth…[when we] started doing things good was the Friday after Thanksgiving.,” Olson said, post Niles West win. “We practiced zero offense. 
It was all defense and the same on Saturday. And that’s where we’re out. We have to be a defensive minded team, and when we’re doing that, we’ve got enough offensive players that’ll take care of [the rest].”

Despite the significant improvements, the Vikings remain at 18 in the Dec 8 Super 25. But as the season continues, North is riding a wave of momentum that will come in handy through arguably their biggest challenge yet of the season when they face O’Brien’s fifth ranked team, Simeon this Saturday, Dec 14. Luckily for the Vikings, they will be getting back Yaris Irby, who will make an impact, and bring back the high-powered offense that this boys’ team is known for.