<\/a>Dimond senior Mecca Goldsberry (1) defends a shot by Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Gwen Nizich (11) during the Lynx’ 53-43 win Saturday over the Crimson Bears in the George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Dimond did just that as both the Lynx, and the Crimson Bears put on an energetic display of defensive pressure and contested shots.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Lynx senior Mecca Goldsberry opened the game with a steal and score for a 2-0 lead, and classmate Sienna Pederson picked off a pass, but could not convert and Crimson Bears senior Cailynn Baxter stole a rebound inside for a 2-2 tie.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS senior Kerra Baxter followed with a steal and was fouled, hitting two free throws for a 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Hamey would hit inside for Dimond to tie the score at 4-4.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Steals and turnovers would help and hamper both sides.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dimond junior Kinsey MacDonald scored inside off an assist from Hamey who stole a pass, and a Hamey rebound led to a fast-break basket by Pederson for an 8-4 advantage.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS would also find thievery as senior Addison Wilson recorded a steal and passed to junior Cambry Lockhart who scored and was fouled. Cambry missed the extra shot and junior Gwen Nizich rebounded, but her put back shot was blocked by Dimond’s Hamey to end the quarter with the Lynx up 8-6.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Dimond is a good team,” Gwen Nizich said. “They came out with fire tonight. They had us in a half-court trap. I think our takeaway from their defense especially was just to keep our composure with the ball, not putting it straight to the ground and just making our smart passes with ball fakes because turnovers were a huge dagger tonight. I think just limiting those with smart passes and ball movement is going to be super key moving forward.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
<\/a>Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Gwen Nizich (11), sophomore Bergen Erickson (12), junior Cambry Lockhart (3) and senior Kerra Baxter (22) and Dimond junior Katie MacDonlad (22), freshman Khloe Mack (5) and senior Sienna Pederson (23) react to a loose ball during the Crimson Bears 53-43 loss to the Lynx Saturday inside the George Houston Gymnasium.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS’ K. Baxter rebounded a missed shot and fed sophomore Layla Tokuoka to tie the game at 8-8 opening the second quarter.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dimond’s trap involved Pederson, junior Katie MacDonald and freshman Khloe Mack along the half-court, and Pederson found herself open past the arch after a JDHS turnover and drained a shot for an 11-8 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Back to back steals by JDHS’ Wilson and C. Baxter were sandwiched between Crimson Bears turnovers as both teams continued to defend across the half-court line.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Hamey would record two more blocks in the quarter for Dimond but JDHS went on a 5-2 run on baskets by K. Baxter and Lockhart and another free throw by K. Baxter to tie the game at 13-13.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Hamey hit a short jumper to give Dimond the 15-13 lead but JDHS’ Nizich hit a free throw, stole a ball and then scored on a give-and-go from C. Baxter to lead 16-15.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
With 11 seconds remaining in the first half Hamey hit from long range to give Dimond an 18-16 lead but Nizich answered with a basket at the buzzer to tie the game at 18-18.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“What we took away from this game is to just really expect everything,” K. Baxter said. “And not to take anything for granted…we’re just going to go to practice on Monday and work really hard, and keep up the intensity. Their press bothered us.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dimond would open the second half with a basket by Katie MacDonald that was answered by JDHS’ K. Baxter.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Then Dimond’s Goldsberry was fouled on a scoring basket and hit the free throw for a 23-20 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
<\/a>Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Cambrey Lockhart (3) forces a turnover by Dimond senior Sienna Pederson during the Crimson Bears 53-43 loss to the Lynx on Saturday in the George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Lockhart answered for JDHS but Dimond’s Katie MacDonald was fouled on a rebound and hit both free throws, and Pederson was fouled after a steal and hit a free throw, Hamey blocked a shot and rebounded another and threw an outlet pass to Goldsberry who found a shot past the arch for a 28-22 lead which forced JDHS to take a timeout.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Goldsberry had moved from Nome to Sitka in second grade and stayed through seventh grade, went to Colony for eighth grade and freshmen year, moved back to Sitka for her sophomore campaign and then to Dimond.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I miss the community of Southeast the most,” Goldsberry said. “And how hyped everyone is for games and how supportive the whole community is. I know every single one of the Juneau players. I grew up playing all of them since fourth grade.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Goldsberry said she sold the virtues of Southeast to her Anchorage teammates.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“For this game I let them know that this is going to be the most packed game we have played,” she said. “There’s going to be a band, there’s going to be a crowd. It’s going to be the hypest game we are going to be at…I loved it. It made me feel like I was back at Sitka, back kind of like in my home town and I love that home town energy where the whole town shows up for the game and supports everybody.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Coming out of the time out JDHS found G. Nizich open from the corner and she drained a deep shot to pull to 28-25 with four minutes left in the stanza.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dimond answered with a score by Pederson, JDHS’ G. Nizich hit inside and Dimond’s Goldsberry scored to force another JDHS timeout.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Coming out of that rest the Crimson Bears again found G. Nizich for a deep shot past the arch to close to 32-30, but Dimond answered again as Hamey hit from past the arch for a 35-30 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
<\/a>Evan, Maquire, Quince, Chris and Jer Hamey pose for a family photo on Saturday inside the George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Hamey was an all-state tournament selection last season and Goldsberry a player of the game selection. Both were key components on the team that fell to Thunder Mountain and the Baxter twins in the state quarterfinals, but went on to place fourth.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Last year was a tough game so coming down here and being able to get a win is everything,” Hamey said. I’m super proud of my team and it was just a great experience to play here and get a win here…I think we came together over that loss and bonded and talked through it and we knew what we had to do to come out and get a win, so we did it…it was great to be here. It was a lot of fun and the environment is great.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS’ K. Baxter would hit two free throws and G. Nizich scored on a fast break to close within 35-34 as the third quarter ended.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dimond would open the final stanza on a 6-0 run that included baskets by Mack, Hamey and Pederson to lead 41-34.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
K. Baxter scored inside, but Dimond’s Katie MacDonald hit inside and then from past the arch for a 46-36 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS’ G. Nizich scored on a fast break and then stole a ball for another score to close to 46-40 with 2:16 remaining to play.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dimond called a timeout and came out of the rest with junior Kinsey MacDonald receiving an assist by sister Katie MacDonald for a score inside and a 48-40 lead. Katie MacDonald added two free throws for a 10-point lead and Hamey blocked her fifth shot of the game.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS’ G. Nizich hit her third shot past the arch to cut the lead to 50-43, but Hamey was fouled and hit two free throws with 1:17 remaining for a 52-43 lead, and then blocked her sixth shot of the game which led to a fast break and a free throw by Pederson for the 53-43 final.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Tonight just way to many turnovers,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “I think we had 16 in the first half. We know as a whole that is unacceptable. We can’t have that. We have been picking up full-court most of the time and on the half-court side of things we were being a little bit more passive and letting them dictate how they want to play instead of us dictating it. Just working on those things. It teaches us a lot. We’ll watch some film. We’re going to have some hard practices, prepare, and be ready for our next series and then Wasilla.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t