All of a sudden, the lead was gone.<\/p>\n
From the final minutes of the second quarter until midway through the fourth, Kake held a double-digit lead over Hydaburg in an elimination game in the B Bracket at Gold Medal.<\/p>\n
Then Hydaburg’s Damen Bell-Holter asked for the ball.<\/p>\n
With four minutes left, he made a three to cut the lead to five points. With 1:23 left, he hit a contested three that pulled Hydaburg within one point. Just 40 seconds after that, Bell-Holter knocked down another shot from long-distance that gave Hydaburg its first — and final — lead of the half, 73-72.<\/p>\n
“I just needed to see one (three-pointer) go,” Bell-Holter said. “I knew if I saw one go, I was going to be able to knock down a couple more.”<\/p>\n
The final score was 75-72, stunning Kake players and fans and eliminating them from the tournament. Hydaburg is now just one win away from heading to Saturday’s championship game. Hydaburg will play the loser of the Klukwan-Haines game, which took place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n
Kake went on an 18-3 run to end the first half and led Hydaburg 45-28 at the break. Not only that, but Bell-Holter and Kake’s Shea Jackson had gotten a little too physical for the referees’ liking near the end of the half, and both players were forced to sit for the first 90 seconds of the half.<\/p>\n
Even without Bell-Holter and facing a 17-point deficit, Hydaburg players didn’t think they were out of the game.<\/p>\n
“Basketball’s like boxing,” Bell-Holter said. “You get hit with rounds and see how you retaliate. I feel like (Kake) gave us their best punches. We just gradually, gradually wore them down and I knew right there they were playing not to lose rather than playing to win.”<\/p>\n
In Bell-Holter’s mind, “right there” was when Hydaburg cut the lead to 69-61 with four and a half minutes left. Around that point, Hydaburg caught fire from beyond the arc. Six of Hydaburg’s seven field goals in the fourth quarter were threes, with four coming from Bell-Holter and two from Vinny Edenshaw.<\/p>\n
Edenshaw was the game’s leading scorer, finishing with 27 points compared to Bell-Holter’s 26. Xavier Friday led the way for Kake, scoring 24 points in the loss.<\/p>\n
Hoonah advances to M Bracket championship<\/p>\n
Last year’s M Bracket champions will have a chance to defend their title Saturday.<\/p>\n