Craig girls earn 2A semifinals with 50-46 win over Su Valley
- Klas Stolpe
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
Metlakatla also advances to 2A semifinals, 1A Hoonah and Kake still alive
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Craig Panthers hit key free throws down the stretch to defeat Su Valley 50-46 on Thursday in the March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage and earn a spot in the semifinals on Friday.
“I am very excited,” Craig coach Vanessa James said. “I am excited for my girls because they have worked really hard to get to this stage, and we faced adversity today and they stuck together. There were times that we lost our composure a little bit and maybe we were feeling a little bit sorry for ourselves. But at halftime we got them recomposed and there was still a whole other half of basketball to play. We kept making runs, but could never get over that three-point deficit until the very end.”
Craig junior Sara Steffen kept the Panthers in the first quarter, scoring eight of the team’s 12 points as they trailed Su Valley 15-12.
Craig would fall behind 26-16 with under three minutes remaining in the first half when James called a timeout.
“I just want them to know our time and possession of the game,” James said. “I usually tell them we are down this much, this much time is left on the clock or we are up this much so they know we need defensive stops if we are down. And we need to pressure the basketball and get hands in the passing lanes…Denying those one-pass away passes and getting deflections. Once they figured out how to get some deflections and get some tie-ups it was much better for us.”
Craig trailed 31-23 at the half, but opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run on scores by seniors Abigail Patten and Chelsea Thompson and junior Ashlyn Smith to tie the game at 31-31.
Su Valley worked to a 37-31 lead, but Craig freshman Jayla Edenshaw and Smith hit free throws to close to 37-34 as the quarter ended.
Thompson opened the fourth quarter with a floating shot to pull Craig to 37-36.
Craig and Su Valley would exchange baskets and small runs with Su Valley leading 44-41 with under two minutes to play.
Thompson made a free throw for Craig and missed the second, but Steffen rebounded and was fouled. Steffen hit both free throws to tie the game at 44.
Smith hit a free throw for a 45-44 Panthers lead with 1:07 left to play.
Su Valley senior Lily Esmailka gave the Rams a 46-45 lead and James called a Craig timeout.
“We have girls on our team, I think there are four or five, that are willing to take that shot at the very end,” James said. “So as long as they step up there confidently, tell themselves they can make it, then we’ll take it.”
Su Valley would earn a jump ball with 30 seconds remaining to play, but Craig’s defense prevented a clean pass into play and the possession was switched.
Smith swung the ball inside to Steffen, who was fouled and hit her first free throw to tie the score at 46-46. Steffen missed the second, but Thompson rebounded the shot and lifted up a running bank shot that gave the Panthers a 48-46 lead with 20 seconds remaining.
Su Valley was pressured into a turnover and Steffen was fouled with nine seconds left in the game. She hit both free throws for the 50-46 final.
Steffen led Craig with 20 points, Smith added 15, Thompson 10, senior Abigail Patten four and Edenshaw one. The Panthers made one three-point shot, 15 two-point field goals and made 17-23 from the charity stripe. Craig advances to play in a semifinal at 3:15 p.m. Friday against the winner of #3 Glennallen and #6 Unalakleet.
Senior Lily Esmailka led Su Valley with 17 points, Sliker added 13, junior Jessie Wentworth seven, freshman Maris Mossanen four, junior Maura McDaniel three and sophomore Ananda Lankard two. The Rams hit three shots past the arc, 16 closer in and made 5-12 at the line. Su Valley plays in a consolation semifinal at 8:00 a.m. Friday against the Glennallen/Unalakleet loser.
2A Girls - METLAKATLA 35, CORDOVA 22
The Metlakatla Miss Chiefs defeated the Cordova Wolverines 35-22 on Thursday to open their March Madness Alaska 2A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage.
“Our defense tries to drive our offense,” Metlakatla coach Mike Nigus said. “We spend a lot of time trying to get into shape to do this, to make a run here at the state tournament and the girls have responded really well. When we are fresh we play incredible defense. I think the rest of Region V teams in southeast Alaska help prepare for that.”
The defense showed up early as senior Mia Winter stole a ball for possession and scored the first basket of the game inside on a pass from senior Saahdia Buffalo.
Buffalo followed suit and stole another ball from Cordova, and senior Daycee King hit inside for a 4-0 lead.
The action would temper off until junior Baileigh Nelson scored, and King added a basket and a pair of free throws for an 8-0 lead. Cordova junior Isabelle Northstine scored the Wolverines first basket as the quarter ended.
Metlakatla pushed out to an 18-5 lead at the half behind baskets from Buffalo, Winter, sophomore Gracie Booth and two scores from sophomore Haylen Ladnier.
Metlakatla went cold in the third quarter as Cordova picked up their defensive pressure full court. The Wolverines went on a 10-0 run to pull within a point at 18-17 with under two minutes to play behind junior Victoria Nothstine and I. Nothstine.
The Miss Chiefs got their first point on a free throw from Booth, and Nelson hit a shot and was fouled, making the free throw to earn a 21-17 lead.
“We knew they were going to make a run,” Nigus said. “That is the number five team in the state. The four/five seeds are sometimes a coin toss. That is a good basketball team we just beat…They have a lot of good athletic students. They play hard. We knew at some point and time they would make that run, we weathered it, maintained composure and were able to rebound from it. A lot of that comes from our five seniors. We have great leadership on our team and it also helps our younger players learn from it.”
A time out before the third quarter ended regrouped the Miss Chiefs.
“In the timeout we said, we do what we do and we needed to set the tempo,” Nigus said. “We took the momentum back.”
Metlakatla’s Ladnier scored to open the fourth quarter and after a Cordova basket by junior Taylor Tiedeman, the Miss Chiefs went on a 14-3 run to end the game courtesy of their own full-court pressure.
“Metlakatala is an incredible community,” Nigus said. “It is our home and I am very proud to put up a ‘W’ for them.”
Nelson led Metlakatla with 10 points, Ladnier and King had six apiece, Buffalo five, Winter four, Booth three and senior Morgan Hayward one. The Miss Chiefs hit one shot past the arc, 14 closer in and were 4-12 from the free throw line. Metlakatla advances to a 4:45 p.m. semifinal Friday against No. 1 seed Seward, a 64-11 winner over No. 8 Chevak.
I. Northstine led Cordova with 11 points, V. Northstine had nine and Tiedeman two. The Wolverines had eight field goals and hit 6-15 from the line. They play in the consolation semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Friday against Chevak.
Metlakatla coach Nigus said, “Our community right now, and especially our school, could use some healing. I don’t know if a lot of people know, but we actually lost one of our seniors, and we found out a week ago. And so some healing gets to take place through this. Hopefully people were able to find that in the moment here and find something to be happy about and joyful about.”
1A Girls - HOONAH 38, COOK INLET ACADEMY 30
The Hoonah Braves outlasted the Cook Inlet Academy Eagles 38-30 in the March Madness Alaska 1A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage.
Hoonah led 4-3 after eight minutes and 13-11 at the half and 28-22 after three quarters.
Sophomore Nevaeh Campbell led Hoonah with 11 points, junior Easton Ross added 10, junior Jora Savland seven, freshman Ava Hinchman five and freshman Payton Smith three. The Lady Braves made four three-point shots, 10 closer in and hit 6-11 from the line. Hoonah stays alive to play in a consolation semifinal at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Freshman Natali Curren and sophomore Sophie Rozak led Cook Inlet Academy with 10 points apiece, junior Maria Smith added five, junior Madison Curren four and freshman Joleen Seater one. The Eagles had one three-point shot, 12 closer in and hit 3-12 from the line. CIA is out of the state tournament.
1A Girls - KAKE 38, AKIAK 25
The Kake Thunderbirds rallied from a 14-11 deficit in the first quarter, outscoring the Akiak Grizzlies during the final three quarters 27-11 for a 38-25 victory.
The Grizzlies managed only one point in the second quarter after their strong opening showing. Kake remained consistent throughout with per-quarter scores of 11, 9, 10 and 8 points.
Three Kake players — Edan Hallingstad, Lydia Chang and Brooklyn Hallingstad — shared top-scoring team honors with eight apiece. Akiak’s Aarolyn Williams led all scorers with 10 points.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
