Crimson Bears boys run over by aggressive Wolves
- Klas Stolpe
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
Sitka avenges 56-49 Friday loss with 60-30 Saturday onslaught
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
One night after defeating Sitka 56-49 inside the George Houston Gymnasium the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team found themselves trampled under the Wolves' intensity by a 60-30 final score on Saturday.
“Sitka came out with their jaw set and their ears pinned back and punched us right in the face and we weren’t ready for it,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said. “That’s my fault. I didn’t have them ready. We talked about how good a team Sitka is and that we know they are going to come back and battle. We just weren’t able to match that same level of intensity and carry things over from the way we played Friday night.”
Sitka senior Kai Hirai hit the games first basket from beyond the arc, and JDHS junior Logan Carriker matched the shot from the other end and that would be the last time the Crimson Bears were evenly matched on the scoreboard.
Sitka would go on an 18-3 run to end the first quarter up 21-6.
The barrage included a variety of Wolves shots by seniors Brett Ross and Trey Johnson, junior Colton McGraw, two more arc shots by Hirai - one from just inside half court - and an acrobatic full-speed follow-up rebound score by senior Shane Tincher. JDHS senior Brandon Casperson hit the Crimson Bears' lone shot from the arc.
“Friday night I thought we battled really hard,” JDHS coach Casperson said. “I thought we were playing tough defense and that we were blocking out, and Sitka just took all those similar opportunities, those same shots and everything else, and they were open tonight. We didn’t let them get open last night.”
Sitka would add another 16 points in the second quarter on two shots past the arc by Ross and Tincher, a couple baskets and free throws by Tincher, and scores by junior Colton McGraw and senior Trey Johnson.
It was more than scoring for the Wolves. Their pressure defense and multiple second-shot opportunities are in their wild nature.
“Just keep the pedal to the metal,” Sitka guard Harai said. “Just continue to put the pressure on and just keep the energy high. This team is special because we work as a unit. We just continue to play together. That’s pretty much it. We knew tonight we were not going to slow down. Coach gave us a good pep talk before the game and got us all pumped up. The energy was always high and we were pretty pissed off about yesterday’s game so we needed the energy high, we needed to come back out there strong.”
The Sitka roster is filled with high-intensity players, Harai and Ross are two called on to keep that flowing.
“I guess I play cutthroat, I mean, you got to go get the ball,” Ross said. “You have to take it. I mean, I pride myself on my defense. I try to shut them down and keep the energy up for the rest of my team, and hopefully it spreads and, yeah, just do my job. I think we have a really strong identity on the defensive end. That is who we are and that is who we plan on continuing to be. We let our defense create our offense.”
Sitka’s Johnson had recorded to blocked shots by halftime and a good armload of rebounds, and Tincher was a recipient of numerous kick-out passes if not crashing the boards himself.
“Every time I step on the court I am going to try and do my best and play my hardest,” Tincher said. “So that is what it really comes down to. Whether I am off the bench or I am starting it doesn’t make a difference to me.”
JDHS had their best stanza of the night in the second quarter with nine points being distributed equally among seniors Elias Dybdahl, Joren Gasga and junior Logan Carriker, but trailed 37-15 at the half.
In the first half Sitka shot 52% from inside the arc, 50% from past the arc and 33% from the free throw line.
“So we should have just fouled them more,” Casperson said. “Right? At that point. But we weren’t close enough to foul them, and they were dictating the pace and everything. They were very aggressive. They did a great job.”
Sitka would not be threatened through the remainder of the game.
In the third quarter the Wolves got a three from junior Shane Carlos, two baskets and a free throw from Tincher and three aggressive inside scores by Johnson.
JDHS had two baskets from senior Noah Ault, another from senior Tyler Frisby and a free throw from Dybdahl and trailed 51-22.
“We have to figure out how to play consistently,” Casperson said. “And against good teams. And good teams are going to challenge you every night. And there is no easy game left on our schedule.”
JDHS went through their roster liberally in the third and fourth quarters. Seniors Christian Rielly, Ryland Carlson, Kurt Kuppert, B. Casperson, Ault, Dybdahl, Frisby Gasga, junior Carriker, and sophomores Micah Nelson and Zachary Polasky battled hard across the court. Ault, Kuppert, Gasga and Polasky each had a basket in the final eight minutes.
“From this game I feel like moving forward we can be a better team and have fun,” Ault said. “I know we are gonna have some challenges moving forward, but I feel like we are ready for every challenge that comes are way.”
In the final eight minutes for Sitka, McGraw hit two shots from the arc and a free throw and junior Josh Partido a pair of free throws.
Each of the Wolves that came to the floor throughout the game all have the same goal, a state title.
“The goal for this season, honestly, started when we were freshmen,” Sitka’s Tincher said. “And even before that, like watching games when we were in fourth grade. Every single time we watched it just got us ready for this moment.”
Tincher led Sitka with 16 points, Johnson and McGraw added 11 apiece, Harai nine, Ross eight, Carlos three and Partido two.
“I think it really started when we lost against Nome at state last year,” Harai said. “We beat Edgecumbe and got to the championship game and we were like, ‘Oh, we can do this.’ It really set the tone.”
Added Ross, “One misstep could stop that goal so we have to try and bring out best every day. Every day in practice we have to bring our energy. It is really our focal point, especially on defense. We have to keep our energy high. We have to stay together as a team and we have to communicate.”
Sitka hit 6-12 from the free throw line, JDHS 6-14.
Ault and Carriker led the Crimson Bears with six points apiece, Gasga five, Dybdahl four, B. Casperson three, Kuppert, Frisby and Polasky two each.
“I like that when we ended up going to the bench and getting some other guys opportunities and that they responded very well with those opportunities,” Casperson said. “I thought, in some cases, they were more efficient in running our offense than our guys that are out there regularly…We have some work to do in practice. We have identified a couple things already that we know we are going to focus on in regard to working harder to get open at the wing instead of just standing. There was a lot of standing tonight. Being tougher to go get the ball when it comes to us, all those types of things."
"It is just one of those things. Southeast is tough. There is a lot of talent down here and kids are playing really hard. Sitka is a clear example of that. I don’t know if we are a 30-point loss against them. We did some things wrong. They did a lot of things to force us into those situations and we have to find a way to dig out of a hole if early in a game we are down 15. You have to start digging. You have to get stops, you have to really commit to the your defense. We didn’t have that commitment tonight, not the same way we did Friday.”
Upcoming games have the Crimson Bears boys traveling to face the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves Feb. 13-14 while the JDHS girls host the MEHS Lady Braves; The JDHS boys travel to Ketchikan Feb. 20-21 while the Crimson Bears’ girls host the Lady Kings; and both JDHS teams host Tri-Valley Feb. 27-28 for the boys and girls senior nights.
Sitka hosts Kenai Feb. 13-14, hosts MEHS Feb. 17 and plays at MEHS Feb. 25. The Wolves had defeated Kayhi 70-30 on Thursday, Feb. 5 before traveling to Juneau.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
