The distinctive sounds of Gold Medal basketball filled the Juneau-Douglas High School gym on Monday.<\/p>\n
The pounding of children\u2019s shoes on the court as they run by, parading flags in support of their villages. The clatter of bodies as players dive for a loose ball. The cries of \u201cHoonah!\u201d or \u201cKake!\u201d The occasional beat of a drum.<\/p>\n
The 72nd annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament began Sunday, welcoming players and fans from across Southeast. The week centers around basketball, but if you ask people in the stands what they\u2019re looking forward to the most, many will say they\u2019re most excited about the people they\u2019ll see this week.<\/p>\n
James Lindoff, a Hoonah resident, has been coming to Gold Medal since 1965. Lindoff said he\u2019s spent time in multiple Southeast communities, and has friends and family spread throughout the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got cousins and buddies on two different teams,\u201d Lindoff said. \u201cIt seems like it doesn\u2019t matter which way it goes, as long as they\u2019re good games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eileen Carle, a Hydaburg resident who prefers to be known as Auntie Ei, was especially excited for the week to start. She wanted to spread that sentiment to others, so midway through a M Bracket game between Hoonah and Kake, she put on a costume.<\/p>\n
She donned a large inflatable suit that made her resemble a sumo wrestler wearing a dress. She completed the outfit with a gold crown. Carle walked around the court, shaking hands and posing for pictures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first year in a while,\u201d Carle said. \u201cI just thought I\u2019d present myself with my outfit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayme Nickerson, who was born in Klukwan and now lives in Klawock, is rooting for Hydaburg but has reasons to cheer for all the teams. She showed off a picture of her posing with a couple players prior to the action.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were scouting them,\u201d Nickerson joked.<\/p>\n
Gordon Guanzon Jr. and Heather James, both of whom are cheering for Angoon, also said this week is about friends and family as much as it\u2019s about basketball. Guanzon said he lives in town, but still has friends and family members who live in Angoon and this serves as an annual family reunion of sorts.<\/p>\n
When asked if he knows any of the players, Guanzon didn\u2019t have time to answer before James did for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows all of them,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n
That seems to be the way Gold Medal works, with everyone knowing everyone. Games can get heated, but after the final buzzer, the players are usually civil. Sometimes, they even band together.<\/p>\n
After Hoonah beat Kake to advance in the M Bracket, the two teams gathered in a circular huddle at center court with their arms around one another. As Hoonah\u2019s Any Gray explained afterward, they were gathering to pay their respects to Willis Cavanaugh, a former Kake player who died in the past year.<\/p>\n
They did a brief chant as well, and then went their separate ways. The brief gathering fit right in during a week of basketball, friends and family.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.<\/b><\/p>\n
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