The 4A Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears put each of their players into the scoring column in a 71-21 win over 1A Klawock on the opening day of the George Houston Capital City Classic on Friday inside their home gym.
“We tried to focus on some of our offenses that are challenging or new and just try to run through things and move the ball around to each player,” JDHS junior Cambry Lockhart said. “And we did. Every single player on the team scored and that is really great…I think we really focused on our tempo on offense and our defense helped our offense continue.”
Lockhart buried the first home three-pointer of the season, and freshman Athena Warr stole the next opponent’s possession and fed junior Gwen Nizich who buried a shot past the arch for a 6-0 lead with less than a minute gone.
Klawock senior Lea Armour hit two free throws to trail 6-2, but the rest of the game belonged to the Crimson Bears.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears senior Addison Wilson (10) is fouled by Klawock senior Kaiya Marvin during the Crimson Bears 71-21 win over the Chieftains on the opening day of the George Houston Capital City Classic on Friday in Juneau. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
JDHS would open a 22-6 lead after eight minutes which included a strong showing by senior sisters Kerra and Cailynn Baxter, and a half-court press.
While it would have been easy to relax their play and lose focus the Crimson Bears had talked about that prior to the game.
“Staying hyped for each other and moving the ball around so everybody gets a chance to score,” JDHS sophomore June Troxel said. “That is really important. Everybody being hyped and happy for each other was the coolest part when someone scored. There was no selfishness. Everybody was happy for each other.”
JDHS pushed the lead out to 41-10 at the half.
“Communication and ball movement and playing hard defense throughout the game,” JDHS freshman Lydia Goins said. “It was a really cool experience for my first varsity game at home and it was a very team-like environment throughout the whole thing.”
Klawock would go scoreless in the third quarter, but never lost their competitiveness as JDHS held a 58-10 lead going into the final eight minutes of action.
“Coming into the game we were super nervous because we are 1A,” Klawock senior Kaiya Marvin said. “But it is good for us so we are cool with playing here.”
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears sophomore Bergen Erickson (12) is fouled on a shot as Klawock senior Lea Armour (23), eighth grader Jayla Edenshaw and senior Kaiya Marvin defend during the Crimson Bears 71-21 win over the Chieftains on the opening day of the George Houston Capital City Classic on Friday in Juneau. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Marvin and classmate Lea Armour would connect for three shots past the arch in the final stanza and eighth-grader Alli Demmert hit inside, but JDHS scored 13 points in the stanza.
Klawock was a late entry into the tournament as another opponent had canceled.
“We are just so excited that Klawock could make this happen for us and they came at short notice,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “A huge thanks to them. They never gave up the entire game and that is just wonderful to see. Obviously it extends from their coaching staff and we appreciate them. I thought it was good for us to just get on the home court and just be in front of everybody and let fans see us and play hard in front of them. We still have a lot to work on.”
Klawock coach Joseph Sanderson said, “Taking away from this we need to work a little bit more on offense and defense,” Klawock coach Joseph Sanderson said. “And rebounding. I know that we are a smaller school with smaller kids and we are younger and have underclassmen but we were getting after it.”
Klawock is known for never backing down in a basketball game and it showed.
“Former coach Jim Hollien was my coach back in high school,” Sanderson said. “So I am trying to pick up where he left off. Getting them to hustle. It is a learning experience for us. We came here knowing we might not get a win, but as long as we are learning from it. We came in to learn and have fun.”
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears freshman Athena Warr (21) battles for a loose ball with Klawock senior Lea Armour during the Crimson Bears 71-21 win over the Chieftains on the opening day of the George Houston Capital City Classic on Friday in Juneau. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
JDHS’ K. Baxter led the Crimson Bears with 15 points, Warr added 10, senior Addison Wilson nine, C. Baxter eight, G. Nizich seven, Erickson, sophomore Layla Tokuoka and freshman Sadie Lockhart four each, Lockhart and senior Mary Johnson three apiece, Troxel and Goins two apiece.
The Crimson Bears hit 3-6 at the charity stripe, the Chieftains 4-8.
Armour led Klawock with high points, Marvin six, freshman AnaRose Peratrovich four, Demmert two and eighth-grader Jayla Edenshaw one.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
