<\/a>Mt. Edgecumbe senior Richard Didrickson Jr. (21) shoots over Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Brandon Casperson (5) during the Braves 80-66 win over the Crimson Bears on Friday in the George Houston Gymnasium. The two teams play again Saturday at 6 p.m. (Klas Stolpe \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Didrickson, Herrmann and Stephen-Standifer hit from the field, and Didrickson added another from past the arc in that run.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS junior Brandon Casperson hit from deep to represent the Crimson Bears.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Scoring steals from JDHS’ Parker and junior Joren Gasga closed the score to 15-10, but Stephen-Standifer hit inside and Didrickson added another swish from past the arc for a 20-10 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“They hit some big shots,” Didrickson said. “Tomorrow we need to do the same stuff we did tonight. Just working as a team, keeping our composure and swinging the ball. Juneau are good shooters, they hustle and they are good competitors. They are fun to play against. This is a nice environment to play in.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
JDHS junior Elias Dybdahl worked inside and was fouled, making one of two free throws and then the Crimson Bears hit three shots past the arc by junior Tyler Frisby, Gasga and junior Kurt Kuppert while MEHS managed just a basket but held on for the 22-19 lead after eight minutes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Dybdahl had the hard task of defending MEHS’ Stephen-Standifer.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I think the only person that tall I have guarded is my brother (’23 JDHS grad Orin) or James Polasky (TMHS ’24 grad) at open gym,” Dybdahl said. “But no one that strong. Tomorrow I need to do better and not let him score as much.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The two teams exchanged baskets through the second quarter with JDHS getting two shots past the arc from senior Pedrin Saceda-Hurt and another from Gasga, while MEHS worked more on spreading the floor and cashing in on drives by Herrmann.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
With 30 seconds left in the first half, Herrmann hit a free throw and then connected on a drive for a 33-29 lead but Saceda-Hurt buried a shot from deep to close to 33-32.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Hermann hit another close shot for a 35-32 lead with eight seconds left and Saceda-Hurt found space past the arc to connect at the buzzer and tie the game at 35-35 with a fresh half remaining.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Right now I don’t think we are taking pride in our defense,” JDHS coach Casperson said. “I think teams are scoring too easily on us. That starts with me. I have to have them ready from the start of the game and we have to understand that our defensive intensity needs to be there from the start. We can’t trade buckets with teams any longer. This is not open gym and I feel we might be approaching it that way…There is an old saying, ‘Nothing works unless you do.’ So it doesn’t matter what our scheme is or what our defense is or what our offensive sets are. If we don’t remember them after we look great doing them in practice, if we can’t execute them in a game then nothing works.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t