Eric Viuhkola

Eric was the first of the Mike Goin era (1978-2002) basketball players to be inducted in the AHS Hall of Fame, with surely more to follow.

In Eric’s sophomore year, he started at point guard and led the senior-dominated team to the Cowapa league title and a state tournament berth, garnering 1st team All-League, 2nd team All-Tourney and Honorable Mention All-State Honors. He was so competitive that after winning the Vince Dulcich Memorial Christmas tournament in Astoria, the next day the team traveled down to the Dunes Classic, a tournament in Reedsport. They beat Siuslaw the first night and played hometown Reedsport for the championship. Reedsport, at the time, was a Top 5 rated team in the state. Eric led the Fishermen to a halftime lead of 4 points. At the start of the third period he got tripped up and took a gash above the eye. Mike Meno (Hall of Fame Contributer,) took him and stitched him up. He returned by the end of the third quarter, the team was down by eight points. Led by young Viuhkola, the Fishermen went on to win and claim two holiday tournaments in four days.

Eric was not only an outstanding basketball player, but also an excellent all around athlete, lettering in football two years, track two years and baseball his senior year. He accomplished a rare feat by earning nine letters in four different sports.

However, it was basketball where he totally excelled. He had a scary accident his junior year. He was expected to be the starting quarterback for Bill Parrish’s football squad. In pre-season drills, a lineman fell back into his knee and caused serious damage that would take major reconstruction and make his junior year very doubtful for basketball. Exceeding expectations of the orthopedic surgeon, Eric was released and back playing by the start of the league season in January. The team fell one game short of making it to the state tournament. Viuhkola still earned 1st team All-League and Honorable Mention All-State Honors.

Then came the best basketball record ever recorded by an Astoria High School basketball team. The 1987 squad went undefeated in regular season play (20-0). Captained by Viuhkola, they won the seed game and entered the state tournament the #1 team. The second game was the lone defeat of the dream season. The Fishermen ended up 4th place at state and a best ever 24-1 record in the storied AHS basketball annuals. Eric went on to earn 1st Team All-League, 1st Team All-State and 1st Team All-Tournament. He also played in the annual All-Star game, along with teammate Curtis Miller. At the time of his induction, he was currently tied for 8th on the all-time scoring list, with his Coach Mike Goin, at 872 career tallies.