Smalls schools win big at inaugural Elizabeth Peratrovich basketball tournament

A chance for more opportunities, a voice for those often slighted and a venue to showcase athletic talent from across the state came to fruition on Thursday in the inaugural Elizabeth Peratrovich Women’s High School Basketball Invitational Tournament at Juneau’s Thunder Mountain High School.

“The school hasn’t existed long enough to have a lot of traditions,” Thunder Mountain High School girls varsity coach Andy Lee said. “The Capital City Classic at Juneau-Douglas is something people want to play in and come to from all over the country. We needed an anchor to build our season around at TM to host and show off our program and the community.”

Lee proposed the idea of this tournament three years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled its inception.

“This year the stars aligned and we were able to present it as a small schools tournament,” he said. “We hope to grow it in the future to include 4A schools.”

Next year the tournament has already secured a full 4A field as well as small school varsity teams in what will be two four-team round-robin formats.

Lee said the tournament is a chance to promote young women in sports and with a hero they can relate to.

“I have always had this admiration for Elizabeth Peratrovich and the civil rights movement she was involved in in Alaska,” Lee said. “As I did a deeper dive into it I realized that the things she did still resonate, maybe more so now than ever…and girls basketball needs to grow and we need heroes and we need girls to look up to, young women as heroes.”

Traveling to Southeast Alaska for the first time the Dillingham Wolverines brought a passion for competitiveness and adventure to the Thunderdome on Thursday. A cancellation in their schedule coincided with an opening in the TMHS schedule.

“This is a long way to go to play basketball from Dillingham, Alaska,” Dillingham coach Jean Barrett said. “We just happened to make it work. Our motto is one-percent better every day. And I hope we get 1% better every day in this tournament and I would love to make this a yearly thing. This is a great tournament. What a beautiful facility they have here, it is good to see a bigger school.”

Dillingham just completed four games against Bristol Bay and Naknek.

“It was a war,” he said. “This game was really tame compared to those four but the girls learned something today. And that’s our goal to learn every time we step on the court to get better…it is a learning experience and we are enjoying it.”

The games are two 16-minute halves with the clock stopping the last two minutes. The play is round-robin with the top two records advancing to the championship.

The tournament schedule for Friday is as follows:

3 p.m. Dillingham vs. Skagway; 3:45 p.m. TMJV-2 vs. Hoonah; 4:30 p.m. TMJV-1 vs. Angoon; 5:15 p.m. Skagway vs. Hoonah; 6 p.m. TMJV-1 vs. Dillingham; 6:45 p.m. TMJV-2 vs. Angoon.

Saturday games are 2 p.m. 5/6 place; 3:15 p.m. 3/4 place; 4:30 p.m. Championship.

Thursday scores:

Dillingham 31, Angoon 19

Dillingham (Charlene Savo 10, Kahlen Savo 8, Cara Tilden 4, Kalin Clouse 4, Zoe Tilden 2, Marion Coupehiak 2, Lanny Woods 1)

Angoon (Zara Fayer 12, Faith Ramey 7).

Hoonah 27, TMJV-one 23

Hoonah (Krista Howland 13, Easton Ross 8, Paige Woitte 2, Nevaeh Campbell 2, Kali Harris 1, Kyah Martin 1)

TM JV-one (Addison Wilson 11, Bergen Erickson 6, Nani Frommherz 3, Raynon Fraker 3).

Skagway 35, TMJV-two 5

Skagway (Lennon Jennings 12, Ava Myers 6, Millie Myers 5, Kaitlyn Tronrud 4, Kelsey Cox 4, Kenadie Cox 2, Lina Hischer 2)

TM JV-two (Dannon Mills 4, Neela Thomas 1)

Hoonah 36, Angoon 17

Hoonah (Howland 18, Ross 8, Wiotte 4, Aryah Dybdahl 2, Campbell 2)

Angoon Fayer 11, Ali Nelson 3, Lisa Kookesh Booth 2, Ramey 1)

Skagway 30, TMJV-one 22

Skagway (A. Meyers 7, Jennings 7, M. Meyers 7, Smith 5, Tronrud 4)

TMJV-one (Wilson 8, Erickson 5, Natalia Harris 4, Emma Johnson 3, Frommherz 2)

Dillingham 29, TMJV-two 19

Dillingham (L. Woods 10, C. Savo 7, Clouse 5, Z. Tilden 4, Annie Evans 3)

TMJV-two (Olivia Mills 7, N. Harris 4, Raynona Fraker 2, Micah Stephens 2, Tuby Ly 2, Haley Gilbert 2)