{"id":97131,"date":"2023-03-24T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-25T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/juneaus-filcom-wins-gold-medal-c-bracket-championship\/"},"modified":"2023-03-24T22:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-25T06:30:00","slug":"juneaus-filcom-wins-gold-medal-c-bracket-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/juneaus-filcom-wins-gold-medal-c-bracket-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Juneau’s Filcom wins Gold Medal C Bracket Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t
The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament is made possible by Sealaska Corp. Thanks to this sponsorship, this article —and all of this year’s Gold Medal coverage — is available online without a subscription to the Empire.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Juneau Filcom’s Alex Heumann is known as a scoring machine but he built up his defensive prowess in the C Bracket Championship Game, Saturday, March 25, during the Juneau Lions Club’s 74th annual tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Heumann collected a game-high 29 points in a 73-49 win over the Klukwan Chilkats and had the task of guarding Klukwan scoring threat Stuart Dewitt.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Klukwan’s Stuart Dewitt (40) shoots under pressure from Filcom’s Ray Zimmer (0) and Alex Heumann (24) during the C Bracket Championship at the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament, Saturday, March 25, at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Klas Stolpe\/For the Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t “I have been waiting my whole life for one of these,” Heumann said of the championship as emotion overcame him. “I get to win one with my brothers… I had a couple family members watching this one from above… John Martin senior…”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Emotions ran high for both teams as Filcom began the game with steals for baskets by Larry Cooper and Adam Brown and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Heumann for a 7-0 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Klukwan followed with an 11-0 run with back-to-back-to back shots past the arch by Dewitt and a follow up shot by Brian Friske for an 11-9 lead.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Filcom’s Cooper drove for a score and Heumann notched a deep shot, a short jumper and then a running floater that kissed the net as the buzzer blew for a 16-11 first quarter advantage that would never be relinquished.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Filcom’s Larry Cooper (10) gets past Klukwan’s Bryan Combs (22) during the C Bracket Championship at the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament, Saturday, March 25, at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Klas Stolpe\/For the Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Filcom built their lead to 10 points, 32-22, midway through the second quarter as Klukwan struggled to connect from the field while Heumann and Cooper benefited from the board work of Adam Brown, Jason Haskell, Tom Gisler, Andrew Malacas and Charlie Herrington through the first half.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Filcom ended the second quarter on a 6-1 run for a 38-23 advantage at the half.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “I just love to be here,” Adam Brown said after the game. “I love to play basketball. I love the opportunity to get out here in the Gold Medal. I am just really honored with this privilege.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Filcom went on a 12-2 run in the first three minutes of the third quarter and led 50-25. They finished the third quarter with a floater by Heumann, back-to-back shots by Herrington inside and two more baskets from Heumann to put 63 points on their side of the score clock.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Klukwan finished the third quarter with a shot by Paul Carrington, a shot by Dewitt and a deep shot by Jesse McGraw off the glass to put 33 on their side.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Filcom’s Ray Zimmer (0) blocks a shot from Klukwan’s Jess McGraw in the first half of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament C Bracket Championship Game Saturday in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s gymnasium. (Ben Hohenstatt \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t “Terrible,” Klukwan’s Dewitt said after the game. “It was fun to play on Saturday, for sure that’s a good thing, but we were a little tired. Our defense was poor. They were good. Their pick-and-roll stuff they ran really well and they are just tough. Alex (Heumann) played great defense on me. He was like on me all night. He was working just as hard on defense as he was on offense. That was impressive for him to have the offensive output like that when he is working his butt off on defense. Hats off to him, to all of them, they played great team basketball.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Filcom and Klukwan would exchange baskets and flirt with keeping a running clock via the 30-point advantage in the final stanza.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “Oh man, this is big town for us,” Filcom’s Cooper said after the game. “Just an honor to be here to play in this tournament. I’m very grateful for that and very thankful to be able to play with my brother Alex Heumann. To come out to battle with him is a beautiful thing. It’s a beautiful thing. We appreciate it.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t