The Viewmont girls’ basketball team was the surprise team of last year’s 5A tournament. The Vikings had to play their way in, but pulled off a remarkable first-round upset of Skyline, the top seed out of Region 2.

A lot has changed in a year. The team has gotten younger with leading scorer Xojian Harry moving on to play at BYU, while the Vikings now find themselves in a realigned Region 2, a grouping with a completely new look. Skyline has moved on to 4A, while runner-up Cottonwood has jumped to Region 3.

Viewmont’s previous home, Region 1, continues to be a battleground with Layton and Syracuse the only two undefeated teams remaining. Still, according to second-year coach Clint Straatman, it would be a mistake to overlook the Vikings and the rest of the new region.

“I think Region 2 is overlooked, but there’s a lot of talent,” Straatman said. “I still feel that we are the best team, looking at things, but a couple of teams have done well.”

Filling in the scoring gap that Harry left are senior captain Isabella Swan and junior Caitlyn Larsen. Swan started the season slowly, but has scored double digits in the past three games, while Larsen has been consistent all year, going for a career-high 26 points in a 54-28 rout of West last Friday.

“Caitlyn is very confident in herself and knows she’s a good player,” Swan said. “When she shoots, she knows it’s going in every time.”

More importantly, the Vikings have shown defensive promise, currently ranked fourth in points allowed. It was apparent against Taylorsville, the current region leader. While the Trojans average 52.5 points per game, Viewmont held them to only 44.

“I think that defense may be the difference,” Straatman said. “I think we did a great job against Taylorsville. If we’d had a better shooting night, it could have easily been a different outcome.”

Swan agrees, adding that while the team still has growing to do, the attitude is right.

“We’re really young and need to work on our maturity,” Swan said, “but you can tell we want to win. We want to impress everyone. Our mindset is winning every night.”

As the Vikings bond, they could become a dangerous team come the playoffs.