The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears played a solid first half in their opening game against Ketchikan at the Region V 2A/4A tournament at the Kings’ Clarke Cochran Gymnasium.
But Kayhi owned the second half in their 56-43 win in game one of their best-of-three series for the region title and a trip to the state tournament.
“We had some great practices leading up to regions and we were in a good spot with our preparation,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said. “Then we didn’t shoot it very well tonight and that impacted our effort defensively. We can’t let that happen. The one constant has to be our effort defensively.”
JDHS took an early 5-0 lead on a free throw by senior Ahmir Parker, and baskets by senior Pedrin Saceda-Hurt and Parker.
The Crimson Bears had junior Brandon Casperson and Parker doing hard defensive duty on Kayhi senior star Marcus Stockhausen, and kept the Kings’ scoring leader off the scorebook through the first four minutes.
Stockhausen would hit two free throws and a shot past the arc to tie the game at 5-5.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Amir Parker makes a layup during JDHS’ 56-43 loss to Ketchikan on the first day of the Region V 4A Basketball Tournament at the Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium on Thursday. (Christopher Mullen/ Ketchikan Daily News)
Saceda-Hurt put JDHS up 8-5 and Kayhi senior Greg Massin answered to tie at 8-8.
Casperson gave JDHS an 11-8 lead with two minutes left, and Kayhi’s Manabat closed that lead to 11-10.
Massin was fouled on a shot at the arc as the buzzer sounded, but missed all three free throws.
“I also believe we didn’t play as tough as we’re capable of today,” coach Casperson said. “We talked about that after the game and the players agreed. At this point we’ll have to get back on track quickly.”
JDHS stayed within striking distance of Kayhi in the second quarter despite the Kings opening the stanza on an 8-0 run behind two shots past the arc by Stockhausen.
Casperson earned two free throws and Saceda-Hurt hit from the arc to close to 18-16.
Kayhi pushed the lead out to 21-16. JDHS’ junior Kurt Kuppert hit from the arc to close to 21-19 with just over a minute left.
Stockhausen hit a pair of free throws, junior Jozaiah Dela Cruz from the arc and Stockhausen made another shot past the arc for a 29-19 halftime lead.
Kayhi would open the third quarter on a 12-4 run and led 45-28 when it ended, including a blocked shot at the buzzer by Stockhausen.
JDHS responded in the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run behind Casperson, junior Joren Gasga and Parker. Junior Elias Dybdahl grabbed his ninth and 10th rebounds of the game to pull within 47-37 with four minutes left to play and had a fast break layup that was mishandled — allowing Ketchikan to score on the turnover.
Ketchikan was in a parade to the free throw line, but could connect on only 7-18 in the stanza while JDHS, who only had eight free throws all game, were never in the bonus in any quarter.
Dybdahl rebounded and scored to trail 52-39, but Kayhi would answer with a Stockhausen basket.
Dybdahl would pull down his 12th rebound of the night and scored and Saceda-Hurt rebounded and scored but Kayhi managed to hit two free throws for the 56-43 final.
“Tonight was a big basketball moment for a lot of our guys,” coach Casperson said. “Maybe the biggest they’ve ever played in, and even with how out of character we played, we still had a chance to cut the lead to eight with about five minutes to go. Instead of a fast-break layup, we had a turnover that led to a layup for Ketchikan and they were up by 12. We just played even from there.”
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s Elias Dybdahl shoots the ball during JDHS’ 56-43 loss to Ketchikan on the first day of the Region V 4A Basketball Tournament at the Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium on Thursday. (Christopher Mullen/ Ketchikan Daily News)
Casperson led the Crimson Bears with 12 points, Saceda-Hurt added 11, Parker six, Kuppert five, Dybdahl four, Gasga three and Sikes two.
JDHS hit 4-8 at the charity stripe, Kayhi 15-30.
Stockhausen led the Kings with a game-high 27 points, senior Gage Massin had 10, senior Jonathan Scoblic and J. Dela Cruz seven apiece, junior Edward Dela Cruz three and sophomore Zyrus Manabat two.
The teams face off in game two of their series at 7:45 p.m. Friday, following the JD girls game against Kayhi at 6 p.m.
This is JDHS’ fifth game this season against Kayhi. JDHS lost 52-48 and 70-63 at home Jan. 3-4, and won 61-50 and lost 58-53 at Ketchikan Feb. 14-15.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
