Coming out of early season tournaments, most of Juneau’s high school basketball teams are getting ready for the Princess Capital City Classic, which starts on Monday.<\/p>\n
The tournament, which will be hosted by Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé at their gym, will see both the JDHS boys and girls as well as the Thunder Mountain High School girls teams square off against out-of-town competitors.<\/p>\n
“We’re so excited,” said JDHS boys coach Robert Casperson in a phone interview. “It’s so great to have it back.”<\/p>\n
The hosts with the most<\/strong><\/p>\n The four-day tournament is open to the public, with discounted tickets already available online at the JDHS activities page. Tickets will also be available at the door. Masks will be required for all spectators. Other groups, such as the dance team and pep band, will also be making an appearance, Casperson said.<\/p>\n For coaches, there’s more information available about their teams’ strengths and weaknesses after the early tournaments going into the Capital City Classic.<\/p>\n “We definitely have more of an idea of what we’re trying to do. I think that’s helpful,” said JDHS girls coach Steve Potter. “I really don’t know anything about any of the other teams. I don’t know if we’ve ever played Kotzebue before.”<\/p>\n The TMHS girls team will open the tournament against Eagle River at 1 p.m. on Monday, while the JDHS girls will play Kotzebue at 5 p.m. The boys will play their first game against Kotzebue at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n “Playing Kotzebue in the first round of the classic, we know they’re going to try to turn up the pace and get down the floor,” Casperson said. “One of the things we absolutely have to get better at is communication and defensive rotation. We need more understanding of the defensive concepts we’re trying to employ.”<\/p>\n Following games on Monday and Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday will feature shooting contests at 3 p.m. Admission is free. The tournament will wrap up with games on Thursday, with awards going out at 8:30 p.m. The tournament comes as each team is still sharpening its style.<\/p>\n “Our primary challenges right now are us doing what we want to do,” Potter said. “When we start playing Ketchikan or TM multiple times, we can start talking about stopping them from what they want to do.”<\/p>\n