{"id":44975,"date":"2019-03-20T13:10:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T21:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/stayin-alive-yakutat-haines-survive-early-elimination-games\/"},"modified":"2019-03-20T17:09:20","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T01:09:20","slug":"stayin-alive-yakutat-haines-survive-early-elimination-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/stayin-alive-yakutat-haines-survive-early-elimination-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Stayin’ alive: Yakutat, Haines survive early elimination games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t

In Gold Medal elimination games, you want a player like Jerry Riddlington in your corner — literally.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

As Riddlington’s Yakutat squad sought to stay alive in the Masters Bracket, Sitka refused to go away and cut Yakutat’s lead to 12 points twice in the fourth quarter. Both times, Riddlington hit a three-pointer from the corner to extend Yakutat’s lead and help its fans breathe a little easier.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Riddlington hit a trio of 3s in the fourth quarter, propelling his team to a 66-49 win to stay alive in the tournament. Riddlington, who just turned 44, said he’s had to change his game over the years to become more of a shooter and that the corner three is his favorite shot.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“When you get all these injuries to your ankles, you kind of get smart about not driving to the hole anymore, so you kind of just pick your spot for shooting instead of driving,” Riddlington said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

[Follow along with the action on our live blog<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

His teammates also picked their spots well late in the game. Yakutat only made five field goals in the final quarter, but four of them were threes. Gary Klushkan led the way with 18 points for Yakutat, which advances to play in the 10 a.m. game Thursday against the winner of the Angoon-Hoonah Wednesday night game.<\/p>\n

\"Yakutat’s<\/a>

Yakutat’s Ralph Johnson, left, shoots against Sitka’s Ray Kitka in a masters bracket game at the Juneau Lions Club 73rd Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. Yakutat won 66-49. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t

Sitka’s Sean Joslyn led all scorers in Wednesday’s elimination game, putting up 27 points in the losing effort. Though Yakutat led by double digits for much of the game, it felt closer than that. Yakutat only led by four points after the first quarter, and Joslyn seemed unstoppable at times as Sitka tried to mount a comeback.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

It ended up not being enough, though, as Yakutat was able to close out the victory with the shooting of Riddlington and others.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“It’s either win or go home,” Riddlington said. “Give it all today, and if you lose you lose and if you win you stay another day, live another day, play another day.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t