Like their primitive namesake, Wareham’s Lady Vikings varsity basketball team has laid merciless siege to all who have stood between it and a state title. So far, all who have faced them have gone down in flaming defeat. After conquering Dighton-Rehoboth on Tuesday with a score of 59-34, the team is now 9-0.

Their strength this season has come as a result of what coach Robert Rojik calls “an unbelievable team effort” on the part of his team. “Everyone is playing amazing basketball individually on the court, but more importantly, they are playing amazing basketball together and taking down much bigger and stronger teams,” Rojik said.

Indeed Wareham’s girls aren’t that big—their tallest player is 5'9" center Alana Watkins. In fact, one of the team’s strongest players is also one of their youngest and shortest, Breanna Muir. At 5'4, the freshman guard who snuck into the varsity team’s starting line-up has been a force to be reckoned with all season, averaging double-digit scores in most games. She has also been powerful defensively, turning shooting a basket into a dream for opposing players facing her.

What Muir lacks in stature she makes up for in quickness and pure will to win. “In basketball,” she says, “size isn’t everything, and if you’re small and fast enough you can do as much damage as a much bigger player.” And damage she has done. In a January 7 game against a struggling Seekonk, she stole the ball well over a dozen times and managed to block more shots than the opposing team managed to score on. For good measure, she also contributed 15 points to the Vikings 68-30 drubbing of the Lady Warriors.

Also bringing strength to the Lady Vikings line-up this season is junior point guard Lexie Silvia. The veteran player scored a combined 43 points in Wareham’s outings against Seekonk and Apponequet last week, as well as combining for double-digit rebounds and assists. She says she believes her dominant play this season comes from the team's overall strength, good coaching, and above all, good luck.

Finally, anchoring the Vikings' performance this season is captain center and senior Alana Watkins. Watkins has been a party to both the highs and the lows of the girls’ basketball program at Wareham High School. In 2007, as a freshmen, she endured the Vikings' painful 6-14 season, and has since led her team to this year’s stunning 9-0 record. Watkins says she is confident about her team's ability to take this season all the way to the championship, but is also appropriately nervous about the games that lie between the Vikings and the end of the 2010-2011 season.

Of special concern is the Friday, January 14 game against South Coast Conference rival Fairhaven. According to Coach Rojik, the Lady Blue Devils are “the best team in the league.” On average, they are both older than the Vikings and taller, with two players above six feet tall.

Compounding matters, Wareham went into play this week with some difficulties. Instead of a ten-player bench, Wareham only has a roster of eight, having lost one player to injury and another to relocation. Coach Rojik also notes that while Wareham has been strong offensively this year, averaging between 50 and 60 points a game, they need to tighten up their defense, which is routinely giving up more than 40 points per outing.  Given the size and strength of Fairhaven’s girls' team, Rojik anticipates that his girls will “have their hands full” on Friday.

Still, what Wareham has that Fairhaven lacks is the momentum of an undefeated season behind them.  Fairhaven saw it’s dreams of perfection dashed last Friday after going down to New Bedford 64-42.

Watkins says that confidence on the court could make all the difference between winning and losing.

And so the Lady Vikings continue to roll toward the championship, confident but humble about their prospects of bringing another state title home to Wareham this spring.