PLACERVILLE, Calif. — The South Tahoe junior varsity boys basketball team had a successful showing in its first major test of the season. The Vikings brought home the second-place trophy from the Gold Dust Tournament, held at El Dorado High Dec. 4-6.

“Although we showed we will be a team to contend with by winning two of three and taking second place, sometimes losing exposes your weaknesses and this will give us something to work on,” Vikings JV coach Rick Chandler said. “We are going into league play with a 3-1 record and I’m proud of the team for their early efforts and intensity in practice.”

In their first tournament game last Thursday, the Vikings held off a fourth-quarter surge from tournament host El Dorado for a narrow 37-36 win. Garrett Harley led South Tahoe offensively with 13 points, and Dylan Gooding added nine.

In the semifinals last Friday night, South Tahoe put forth a strong effort to beat Casa Roble (Orangevale, Calif.) 42-25 and advance to the championship game. In the win, Harley finished with 10 points, Chaz Ross scored nine and Zen Contestable added six.

Defensively against the Rams, the Vikings played aggressively with full-court pressure for most of the night. Gooding, Anthony Ramos and Tyler Ritter each recorded several steals in the victory

In the tournament championship game last Saturday, the Vikings were outmanned by a larger opponent and fell 62-23. The loss was South Tahoe’s first of the season.

The Vikings JV team begins league play Friday at Truckee. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.