Puyallup’s Will Nasinec takes over third quarter, Vikings rally to beat Olympia
Kevin Olson had seen enough. Within minutes of tipoff, Puyallup’s head basketball coach burned a timeout — trailing by seven before his Vikings could blink.
He was upset, admittedly. Visiting Olympia splashed an early three-pointer and quickly piled on, opening Thursday night’s 4A SPSL clash on a 7-0 run. Vikings wing Mason Sonntag joined the huddle with a plea heard clearly from the bleachers: “Wake up!”
“Let’s just say they came in here and pretty much punched us right in the mouth, in our house,” Olson told The News Tribune. “I got us fired up and said, ‘Nobody comes in here and does that.’
“If they want a street fight, then that’s what we’re going to give them, and we’re going to protect this house.”
Wake up, they did. Puyallup kept the game within reach until senior wing Will Nasinec took over, dropping 11 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter. Olympia’s sharpshooters cooled, and the Vikings (10-4) pulled away late to erase a nine-point deficit in Thursday night’s 60-49 win over the rival Bears (7-5).
“I’m just proud of my guys for battling back, because (Olympia’s) a heck of a basketball team,” Olson said. “I’m proud of our guys, not backing down, stepping up, and just kept with it.”
Nasinec, the 6-foot-7 focal point, was a human highlight reel in the third quarter, outscoring the Bears on his own. He was powerful through contact, shifty in the paint, and sank an impressive turnaround jumper from the right wing that earned oohs and aahs from the crowd. The Puyallup offense ran through him from start to finish.
Nasinec knew that when star guard Drew Jones graduated last spring, an increased role in the Vikings offense was coming. That pressure isn’t noticeable.
“To be honest, I just kind of play the game,” Nasinec said Thursday night. “If I feel like I can make a shot, I shoot it.
“But it’s just about the team. We were moving the ball well. We get into a rhythm and a flow state. We’ve just got to get to that, and good things happen.”
Puyallup’s Bennett Hedman had 13 points. Senior guard Lawson Looker added 10 points, and Sonntag provided breathing room with a late breakaway slam in transition. Cue the victory music: Prince’s ‘Purple Rain.’
Olympia drained nine three-pointers, eight of them in the first half. They mustered just four points in the fourth quarter and 11 total points after halftime.
Bears guard Brody Cronk paced Olympia with 16 points (4 3PM). Junior guard Elijah Buol and junior guard Tucker Downing added 10 points each.
It’s Nasinec’s fourth year with the Vikings, a tenure that includes a state championship game appearance and 4A runner-up finish at the Tacoma Dome last winter. He joined the 1,000-point scoring club earlier this season, one of nine Vikings to reach the mark in school history.
Thursday marked his first-ever win over Olympia.
“That’s my first time beating them, personally, for my four years here,” Nasinec said, mobbed by Hedman’s leaping embrace on the baseline mid-interview. He smiled. “It was a good win.”
BOX SCORE
O: 24-14-7-4–49
P: 16-13-18-13–60
Scoring: (P) Nasinec 26, Hedman 13, Looker 10, Sonntag 9, Jones 2; (O) Cronk 16, Buol 10, Downing 10, Stevenson 6, Bell 5, Barrett 2
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 10:55 PM with the headline "Puyallup’s Will Nasinec takes over third quarter, Vikings rally to beat Olympia."
