When the Thunder Mountain High School girls basketball team takes on Mt. Edgecumbe Friday night at 8 p.m., some players will be more warmed up than others.
Part necessity and part prudence, the majority of the Falcons varsity team consists of “swing players”: those who suit up for junior varsity (JV) games before (and sometimes after) varsity games.
It’s necessary because, according to coach Chandler Christensen, the program is only 16-girls deep. That’s more than enough for one team, but not quite enough for two.
It’s prudent because it gives everyone from freshmen to juniors ample playing time — up to six quarters in a given night — to hone their skills. The coaching staff determines how to divvy a given player’s six allotted quarters per night.
The “swing players” include mainly underclassmen such as Tzadi Hauck, Khaye Garcia, Neal Garcia, Samantha Dilley, Iayanah Brewer and Tasi Fenumiai.
“These girls are getting out here and they’re getting a lot of JV minutes and they’re getting to do some things that they may not feel comfortable doing in a varsity game,” Christensen said. “So as soon as they get into that varsity game, they remember, ‘Oh I just did it, maybe I can try it again in this varsity game and we’ll see what happens.’”
Hauck, a sophomore guard who has started in numerous games this season at varsity, doesn’t mind the extra minutes on JV. It’s helped her take stock of her capabilities.
“We can try new things and perfect the things we aren’t as comfortable doing on varsity,” Hauck said. “It helps because you get to go out of your comfort zone and just go all out. I mean, you have nothing to lose. There’s no conference or regions for JV.”
Fenumiai agrees with Hauck and sums up the difference between JV and varsity with one word: “Pressure.”
“It gives you more insight of how everything works because you can see more from a JV (game) of what you maybe missed during a varsity game,” Fenumiai said.
Mt. Edgecumbe and Thunder Mountain play again Saturday at 8 p.m. The JV Falcons play at 6 p.m. both Friday night and Saturday.
Other Juneau basketball
The Thunder Mountain boys team plays tonight, Friday and Saturday in Sitka. The Falcons take on Sitka tonight before squaring off against Mt. Edgecumbe Friday and Saturday.
Juneau-Douglas High School boys and girls teams play in the Whaler Invitational starting today in Barrow.
The JDHS boys will face Barrow tonight, Monroe Catholic tomorrow and East Anchorage on Saturday. It’s already the fourth tournament the team has played this season after the Tarkanian Classic (Dec. 20-23), Capital City Classic (Dec. 27-30) and Alaska Prep Shootout (Jan. 11-13).
Barrow handed JDHS its only loss of the Alaska Prep Shootout, a heartbreaking 59-58 defeat in the first round of the tournament.
Also in Barrow, the JDHS girls take on East Anchorage today, Barrow tomorrow and Palmer on Saturday. The Thunderbirds cruised past the competition at the Capital City Classic with three straight wins and are responsible for the Crimson Bears’ biggest loss of the season at 31 points.
Midseason snapshot
After this weekend, all four Juneau basketball teams will eclipse the halfway mark in the season. With the Region V championships a little more than five weeks out, here is a summary of all four Juneau teams’ seasons thus far.
TMHS girls
Record: 3-8 overall, 0-2 Southeast Conference
Notes: The team has already exceeded its win total (two) from last season this year. With almost all of its conference games still to be played, the Falcons are in a good position to win at least one of the six.
TMHS boys
Record: 6-6 overall, 2-0 Southeast Conference
Notes: TMHS has recorded wins against quality opponents Barrow, Juneau-Douglas and West Valley. Sophomore Brady Carandang and senior Luke Clark are both elite 3-point shooters who can heat up in a hurry.
JDHS girls
Record: 4-9 overall, 2-2 Southeast Conference
Notes: The team has cobbled together four wins this season despite missing senior forward Morgan Balovich and starting guard Alyxn Bohulano for stretches. The team should benefit significantly with those two back in the lineup starting at a Feb. 2-3 home series against West Anchorage.
JDHS boys
Record: 7-5 overall, 0-2 Southeast Conference
Notes: Senior Erik Kelly loves to elevate his game for the home fans and JDHS is home for six of its last eight games this season.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
