Haines takes down defending champion Angoon
- Klas Stolpe
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
New B Bracket title holder reigns with 56-51 win
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Haines guard Jake Friske hit four free throws in a row to secure a 57-51 win over Angoon in the B Bracket championship game Saturday at the 77th annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament.
“I have kind of been in that situation before,” Friske said. “I think it was regions my junior year. I was fouled on a three-point shot and we were down two. I made my first, but missed my second, and I made my third. I am used to it. We did end up losing in overtime (then) but this time I wanted to redeem myself.”
The redemption started earlier as Haines and Angoon had played 30 minutes of competitive basketball and began the fourth quarter knotted at 43-43.
Angoon’s Aquino Brinson drove inside and drew a foul, hitting both free throws for a 45-43 lead.
Haines would miss three straight shots and Angoon would lose the ball just as many times as both sides were in all-out defensive mode. Haines earned a fourth foul on Angoon’s inside force Kendrick Payton but then turned the ball over. Angoon had an open shot inside rim out and Haines’ Kaleb Tompkins went end to end on a dribble to score to tie the game 45-45.
Angoon’s crowd base went wild as Jonathan Jack-Nixon buried a three-point shot for a 48-45 advantage but less than 10 seconds later Haines’ Swinton hit from past the arc to tie the game at 48-48.
Then Friske hounded a turnover out of Angoon and on the ensuing Haines possession, he tipped a rebound three times to keep Haines’ shots alive until Kyle Fossman secured the rebound for a score and a 50-48 lead.
Angoon did not hesitate as Clayton Edwin, with a defender closer than a typically officiated game would allow, rose in the air and buried a shot past the arc for a 51-50 lead and forcing a Haines timeout.
After both sides missed a shot, Haines was heavily guarded on the perimeter and Friske wound up with a spinning shot inside for a 52-51 advantage.
A loose ball being batted across the court on the next possession may have appeared like cats chasing an ice cube across a kitchen floor but the resulting jump ball finally came to rest in favor of Angoon. They would be hard-pressed to get a shot off and called a timeout with 1:13 left to play.
A missed shot was rebounded by Haines’ Swinton, and Angoon would be forced to foul players to give their opponents the free throw bonus.
Four Angoon fouls and one Angoon turnover finally put Haines’ Tompkins on the line and he hit one free throw for a 53-51 lead.
Angoon would turn the ball over and with 11.1 on the clock, Tajaun Jamestown earned his fifth foul putting Friske on the free throw line and he hit two for a 55-51 lead.
An Angoon time out and ensuing turnover led to Haines’ Friske heading back to the free throw line with 6.6 left to play.
“My heart wasn’t racing at all,” Friske said. “I practice free throws a lot before the game, kind of fixed up my free throw shot and have a higher percentage this year for sure.”
Friske hit the next two free throws and Angoon missed a desperation shot as time expired that Friske rebounded in a collision with Angoon’s Jack-Nixon, the talented star hoping to earn another title for the athletic team that plays for the small community on the west side of Admiralty Island.
“This game means everything,” Jack-Nixon said. “Last year I tore my Achilles, so coming back means a lot to us, and this B bracket means everything to our community. Each and every one of these communities love coming out here and watching us play and play to the best of our abilities. First, thanks to God for everything he had done for both these communities, that no one got hurt today…And we just love playing this game. Each of these teams. It sucks that we lost chasing that three-peat but God gets the glory win or lose. And both teams, I give it out to them, they did a very good job. We will be back next year.”
Haines earned their first B Bracket and town title since 2019 and ninth overall. Haines has a total of 17 championships across the A, B and women’s brackets. Angoon was chasing a three-peat, having defeated Haines 79-66 last year and Hydaburg 97-66 in 2024. Angoon has 16 titles (9 B, 5 C, 1 women’s, 1 intermediate).
“This means a lot,” Kyle Fossman said. “I think the last one we won was before COVID. We are all getting older. We got some new guys coming up but a lot of the core guys are getting older and to come back and win, I think it has been eight years, and to show that we can still play with the young guys, it means a lot. We have young guys of our own, too, but it is just a lot of fun still being able to play.”
Haines’ Fossman and Angoon’s Jack-Nixon, as all players across both rosters did, were “jawing” at each other through the game. It would be almost inaudible with the crowd noise but the sight of the two going chest-to-chest in the third quarter and one falling to the floor was the experience of two trained athletes knowing what buttons to push on opponents and what referees would allow.
“You want to keep your composure but you want to show your fire as well,” Fossman said. “You don’t want to back down and that is kind of what I was trying to show some of our younger players was like, they are going to come at us and we are going to come back at them. And all the guys on both teams after the game are all good guys, it is just fun to play against them. They are not going to back down against us and we are not going to back down against them. I think that is good for the young guys to see that kind of stuff and keep your composure and still try to take good shots and do what you do. And not let the moment get out of control and start doing crazy things. That is what I try to do and I hope that just rubs off on them.”
The two teams have talent from top to bottom. Haines went through the tournament defeating Klawock 98-58, Hoonah 79-71 and Yakutat 81-52 to reach the finals. Angoon lost their opener to Hoonah 66-65 and then defeated Klawock 82-70, Hydaburg 85-77, Kake 80-68 and Yakutat 71-65.
Haines’ roster allows 6-foot 8-inch Swinton the ability to shoot from the arc, which allows the middle to open for a bevy of players capable of driving for scores or the ball being swung to them for their own shots from distance.
Angoon’s roster with Payton in the middle allows the athleticism of their players to thrive on the same level with the same options as their opponents.
“I am maybe the fourth option, at best, on this team,” Friske said. “I am used to being maybe second or third but here I am just trying to play my role. I am here to win, not score a bunch. So in our second game, we were playing Hoonah and I came down four times in a row and was doing whatever, acting like it was intramural college ball, right? And the next time out Kyle Fossman started screaming at me, right? And I was like, ‘Okay, I need to take care of the ball, play my role. We are here to win, not just score.’ After that game I changed my whole way I was playing… only score if it is open, don’t force it, at the end of the day we are here to win the championship. I think this is Haines’ fourth. I know all the guys on the team are ecstatic.”
The game started as it would be played throughout. Angoon’s Jamestown hit from the arc and was answered by Haines’ Swinton from the same distance. Then Angoon’s Edwin hit back-to-back shots from the arc, being fouled on the second and hitting the extra free throw for a four-point play. Brinson, Jack-Nixon and Edwin would each hit the next Angoon points from the arc.
Haines would hit five shots from the arc in a row by Friske, Fossman, Swinton, Fossman and Swinton. Swinton then hit inside off a rebound assist from Colton Combs.
Newly crowned 2A high school champion Combs had time on the court with the Gold Medal champions as well, providing ball control relief at guard, playing tough Haines defense and earning a score.
“A lot different,” Combs said of the Gold Medal play. “A lot more physical than high school, obviously. But it was a good learning experience. I felt mostly relaxed. Coming out of the state tournament was a lot of energy so I kind of felt like I was used to this. And I get roughed up by these guys in open gym a lot so I am kind of settled in.”
Angoon led 22-21 after 10 minutes. Haines would score only seven points in the second quarter and fall behind at the half 33-28. Haines would make that up in the third quarter, outscoring Angoon 15-10.
“Oh man, great game,” Haines coach Steve Fossman said. “Those Angoon guys are super ball players. I can’t say enough about Clayton Edwin and the way he shoots. He is a great shooter and it is such a challenge to try and take him out of his game. They play hard. They are smart. I knew it was going to be a tough game.”
Of his roster being joined by high school senior Combs, Fossman said, “I hope he got the chance to kind of learn to be on the court with four or five guys that helped him experience this craziness that happens in basketball games. Jake (Friske) was scrapping at the end, getting rebounds, our point guard on the boards, but that is what we are…Honestly our game plan was to move the ball around a little more but we got into that championship kind of chaos. We were doing a good job of running screens, and no disrespect to Angoon they were probably doing things that caused us to not get into our sets. But we were trying to do the same thing we had been doing all week. It just got a little crazy. Good game, though. It was loud in here.”
The Haines championship roster included Swinton, Fossman, Friske, Tompkins, Combs, Chevy Fowler, Kyle Rush, James Hart, Ryan Olsen, Dylan Swinton, Daniel Stickler and Kirby Faverty.
The Angoon roster included Jamestown, Jack-Nixon, Brinson, Edwin, Payton, Christian Nelson, Isaiah Nelson, Phillip Jamestown, Gregory Bennum, Beebucks Kookesh, Kyle Johnson JR, and Duncan O’Brien.
The B bracket All-Tournament team was Ethan Kadake (Kake), Christian Adams (Yakutat), Tyler Swinton (Haines), Tajaun Jamestown (Angoon), Jaren Carle (Hydaburg), Aquino Brinson (Angoon), Dominic Ross (Kake), Kaleb Tompkins (Haines), Arthur Adams (Yakutat) and Samuel Lamebull (Hoonah).
The B bracket Most Valuable Player award was earned by Kyle Fossman (Haines).
“This is like the craziest men’s tournament, I think, in America,” K. Fossman said. “With the way the crowd is, everything like that…if you make it to the championship you know it is going to be a special game, so I am just thankful to be able to still do it.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
B Bracket Championship - Haines 57 (4-0) vs. defending champion Angoon 51 (4-4)
Haines 21 7 15 14 — 57
Angoon 22 11 10 8 — 51
Haines — Tyler Swinton 23, Kyle Fossman 13, Jake Friske 9, Kaleb Tompkins 7, James Hart 3, Colton Combs 2. 11 2PT / 10 3PT / 3-6 FT / 12 fouls - Friske 3.
Angoon — Clayton Edwin 24, Aquino Brinson 12, Tajaun Jamestown 9, Kendrick Payton 6. 11 2PT / 8 3PT / 5-7 FT / 14 fouls - T. Jamestown 5, Payton 4.
