‘Sky is the limit:’ JDHS girls roll to Classic win<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\nThe win gave Soldotna the boys tournament title. After a blowout victory Friday, the visitors from the Kenai Peninsula escaped a feisty Haines team 68-66 on Saturday after a potential buzzer-beater shot by their opponent missed the mark.<\/p>\n
“We’re a veteran group, and we’ve grown a lot in the last couple of weeks,” Soldotna coach Nolan Rose said Monday. “In our home opener, we had a late lead against Anchorage Christian and we let that slip away. Kind of similar situation to our games with Haines and Juneau tonight. I thought we responded a lot better to the game pressure the last two nights and that’s what you want to see.”<\/p>\n
“We don’t get a lot of environments like this in other parts of the state,” Rose added. “So it’s really fun to play with the (pep) band and raucous crowd.”<\/p>\n
Cooper Kriegmont scored 18 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, while junior Brock McCormick added 12 points.<\/p>\n
After Kriegmont tied the game at 52-all with 15 seconds left, Truesdell launched an overhead pass diagonally up the court to Tyler Morrison, who passed to a cutting Zach Hanson at the top of the key. Hanson then passed to an open Mekhai Rich underneath the basket for the go-ahead basket with just over two seconds left.<\/p>\n
“I saw (Hanson) drive it, and I was like … ‘We practice this every day — a 2-on-1 opportunity to get a quick bucket,’” Rich said. “So I back cut and got the layup, and it was just so much adrenaline going through.”<\/p>\n
“I had no idea how much time was left,” Rich added.<\/p>\n
The play stood in contrast to other Soldotna possessions that lasted around 30 seconds due to strong JDHS defense.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a home crowd get fired up and just the roll of the applause for our defense,” Casperson said.<\/p>\n
Even though the Crimson Bears finished the tournament 1-2, Casperson said it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.<\/p>\n
“We definitely didn’t play perfectly, but we definitely gave our best effort of the year so that’s why we feel like we had a chance there at the end of the game,” he said.<\/p>\n
Game recap<\/strong><\/p>\nSoldotna 10 17 14 13 — 54<\/p>\n
JDHS 12 7 7 12 — 52<\/p>\n
Soldotna — Truesdell 21, Rich 10, Sewell 10, Chumley 7, Morrison 3, Rosin 3.<\/p>\n
JDHS — Kriegmont 18, McCormick 12, Nichols 8, McCurley 6, Elizarde 4, Watson 4.<\/p>\n
All-Tournament team<\/strong> — Tyler Morrison (Soldotna), Ray Chumley (Soldotna), Cooper Kriegmont (JDHS), LJ Elizarde (JDHS), Mark Davis (Haines), Kirby Faverty (Haines), Joseph Campbell (North Pole). MVP — Jersey Truesdell (Soldotna).<\/p>\nCapital City Classic — boys scores<\/strong><\/p>\nFriday — Soldotna 74, North Pole 19; Haines 83, JDHS 73.<\/p>\n
Saturday — Soldotna 68, Haines 66; JDHS 73, North Pole 12.<\/p>\n
Monday — Haines 62, North Pole 22; Soldotna 54, JDHS 52.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.<\/b><\/p>\n
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