The Thunder Mountain boys basketball team likes to hoop in Southeast Alaska — and the state has taken notice. On Wednesday the Falcons broke into the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches poll with a No. 5 ranking. They are the only non-Southcentral Alaska team in the rankings: Dimond, East Anchorage, Wasilla and Bartlett lead the way, in that order.
This weekend the Falcons (13-5, 4-0 SE) visit Ketchikan (13-6, 3-2 SE) for two Southeast Conference games at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday. The games can be streamed with play-by-play broadcasting at a link provided through the Ketchikan High School website.
Heading into tonight’s game against the Kings, the team is 10-1 after Sitka snapped a nine game winning streak last weekend. The Falcons lost last Friday to the Sitka Wolves 46-52, before taking Saturday’s contest 65-51. The Friday night loss was declared an endowment game and won’t count toward their overall record. The Alaska School Activities Association allows basketball teams 22 regular season games, but a team can play up to four endowment games.
“We did not play well and Sitka beat us,” TMHS coach John Blasco said by cellphone Thursday. “So in my book … we still lost and we had to learn from it. Thankfully, we were able to bounce back the second night and get the win.”
Blasco says something clicked on his team that allowed it to go on the run it has.
“The team has formed a chemistry and a confidence over that stretch of time that wasn’t there at the beginning of the season, and it’s attributed to their efforts in practice and their efforts on the court,” he said. “I don’t know if I can pinpoint one thing. I think it’s just the evolution of the season and how teams get together and bond to find ways to win together.”
JDHS girls play Sitka
The JDHS girls basketball team plays Sitka tonight at 7 p.m. after playing the Wolves Thursday. The Crimson Bears (14-4, 5-1 SE) split the weekend series against rival Ketchikan last weekend, cruising to a 56-39 Friday win, but falling 34-39 the following night.
TMHS girls host Ketchikan
The Thunder Mountain girls basketball team entertains the Ketchikan Kings tonight. It’s just the Falcons (2-14, 0-4 SE) second game in the Thunderdome in over a month since losing a pair of games against Colony Jan. 20-21. The Falcons’ only two wins this season came at home Jan. 4-5 against West Valley. Tip off is 7 p.m. Look for the Empire’s coverage of both Thursday and Friday night’s games at juneauempire.com and in the Sunday paper.
Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
