JDHS boys top Kake and Monroe in final day of Capital City Classic
- Klas Stolpe
- 8 hours ago
- 8 min read
Crimson Bears defeat Kake 72-20, battle through Monroe 60-44
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The 4A Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team finished their final home tournament games in the George Houston Capital City Classic with a pair of wins Tuesday, defeating the 1A Kake Thunderbirds 72-20 in the early afternoon and toppling the 3A Monroe Rams in the final game of the night 60-44.
“Everyone played to their strengths and within the concepts we have been working on in practice,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said of the win over Monroe. “And I like the direction we're heading.”
In the tournament’s final game, the Crimson Bears were off and running from the tip-off as senior Brandon Casperson returned to the floor from an earlier illness and tracked down the jump ball from senior Elias Dybdahl and passed to senior Kurt Kuppert who drained a shot past the arc.
Monroe junior AJ Geyer would answer with a drive and earn two free throws, and JDHS’ Dybdahl hit one of two from the charity stripe for a 4-3 lead with just over a minute of action played.
Geyer would give Monroe their only lead of the game as he hit from the arc for a 5-4 advantage.
After a JDHS turnover, Dybdahl blocked a Monroe shot and junior forward Logan Carriker hit from the arc for a 7-5 lead. Carriker added a free throw, and senior Joren Gasga hit from the arc as the Crimson Bears pushed to an 11-5 advantage. Dybdahl scored inside and Gasga added two free throws before Geyer scored on a rebound for Monroe to trail 15-7.
“I believe our defensive intensity was where we wanted it to be, and that set the tone for us the whole game,” coach Casperson said. “I thought Monroe did a great job trying to take away our height advantage, but our guards responded by making the most of their opportunities. The guys that came in off the bench did a wonderful job contributing on both sides of the ball, too. I was proud of the team effort tonight.”
JDHS’ Gasga hit from the arc and Monroe’s Geyer answered with a scoring drive, but Dybdahl earned a free throw to give the Crimson Bears the 19-9 first-quarter advantage.
Gasga opened the second quarter with a swish from the arc, and Monroe responded with three free throws by junior Zavier Oleson and a Geyer swish from the arc to trail 22-15.
B. Casperson earned a free throw and Dybdahl battled to score inside for a 25-15 lead. Monroe sophomore Harry Roberts hit from inside and sophomore Makai Bond added a free throw, but Dybdahl scored inside again, then secured a rebound and fed Carriker, who was fouled and hit a pair from the charity stripe for a 29-18 lead.
Monroe would get a free throw from Bond and two free throws from sophomore Brayden Oleson but JDHS senior Noah Ault scored for the 31-21 halftime lead.
JDHS took control of the game at the start of the third quarter as Kuppert hit from the field and twice from the free throw line, Gasga stole a ball and was fouled on a score and hit the free throw, Dybdahl blocked a shot for possession, B. Casperson followed a shot to score and Gasga hit from the arc for a Crimson Bears’ 43-21 lead.
“Elias (Dybdahl) was great inside,” coach Casperson said. “He can score in a variety of ways, but he doesn’t force things. He's a willing passer when teams double him, and the cutters and shooters are prepared for the ball. Joren (Gasga) can score on all three levels and he showed that tonight.”
Monroe’s B. Oleson hit from the arc, but JDHS’ Gasga answered with back-to-back shots from the arc and a 48-24 lead with under two minutes left in the stanza. Monroe’s Geyer, Z. Oleson and sophomore Alden Wilbur each added a free throw, but a flagrant foul gave JDHS’ Kuppert two free throws for a 50-27 Crimson Bears lead after three quarters.
JDHS’ Gasga hit two shots to open the final eight minutes of action for a 54-27 lead. Monroe would answer with a 14-2 run on baskets by juniors Brayden Washburn and Cooper Wentz, Roberts, B. Oleson and Geyer, and free throws by Geyer, Z. Oleson, Roberts and B. Oleson to pull to 56-41 with under two minutes remaining in the game.
JDHS ended the night with scores by senior Christian Rielly and Gasga for the 60-41 final.
Gasga would be awarded the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
“It means everything,” Gasga said of the honor. “I am just proud of the work I put in the preseason, having all my teammates helping me get better. It means everything, man… I am excited for the season. I think this is one of the most compact teams I have ever been on, like, we have guards, we have bigs, I just trust in everyone. I am just excited.”
Gasga led JDHS with a game-high 20 points, Kuppert added 17 — including 14 in the third quarter — Dybdahl 10, Carriker six, Casperson three, and senior Noah Ault and Rielly two apiece.
The Crimson Bears hit 13-18 from the charity stripe, the Rams 18-26.
Geyer led Monroe with 17 points, B. Oleson nine, Z. Oleson seven, Roberts six, Bond and Wentz two apiece and Wilbur one.
“We are young in our roles, and it was great for our guys to be in pressure situations with the crowd noise and the band,” Monroe coach Jason McCullough said. “Everybody was great here, by the way. I just want to say thanks for letting us be a part of a great tournament like this…As far as our guys go, I think that we will gain a level of toughness from this trip that maybe we didn’t have before. The goal is always to just get a little bit better every time we step out onto the court and I think we accomplished that by being here. So I am proud of the boys.”
In earlier action against Kake, Crimson Bears forward Carriker got the ball rolling with a basket inside, and the Thunderbirds answered for their first and only lead of the game as Thunderbirds eighth grader Andre Bean hit a step-back jumper beyond the arc for a 3-2 advantage.
The rest of the game would belong to the Crimson Bears, but not without resistance from the Thunderbirds, who played the entire tournament with just five players and little varsity experience.
JDHS would take a 23-5 first-quarter lead behind seniors Dybdahl and Ryland Carlson, scoring six and seven points, respectively, in the stanza, Kuppert hitting past the arc, and Gasga on a drive and Frisby a free throw.
Gasga would hit from the arc twice in the second quarter and add another shot closer in, along with Dybdahl and Frisby. Kake would match baskets as junior Xzavier Munoz-Torres and Bean hit from the arc and sophomore Tyler Davis and Junior Daniel Bean-Willis scored from inside, but the Crimson Bears led the Thunderbirds 40-17 at the break.
The game would belong to JDHS in the second half as they outscored Kake 20-0 in the third quarter as nine Crimson Bears scored and led 60-17 going into the final stanza where they outscored Kake 12-3.
Gasga and Dybdahl led JDHS with 10 points apiece, Carlson eight, Carriker seven, Kuppert and junior Hunter Carte six apiece, Frisby, sophomore Micah Nelson and sophomore Zachary Polasky five each, senior Noah Ault four, senior Christian Rielly three and senior Brandon Casperson two.
JDHS hit 6-9 at the charity stripe, Kake 0-2.
The Thunderbirds were led by nine points from Bean, Munoz-Torres five, T. Davis four and Bean-Willis two.
“Like coach Casperson said, these kids don’t back down, and I think they did a really good job of showing that with only five of them,” Kake coach Shane Padget said. “I am just really proud of them. We had a little bit of injury problem with Xzavier (Munoz-Torres), but he was able to play tonight. We will have some good tape to watch. I don’t think any of these boys have played on this court ever before so the experience of just coming to the capital and playing on this court is special itself…even with the weather and game cancellations (vs. Petersburg), it was all good experiences here.”
Kake returns home to welcome co-ed 1A Yakutat, another team striving to maintain their rich basketball heritage as school enrollment numbers and town populations diminish.
“We have a couple kids who are working on their grades to become eligible,” coach Padget said. “I think our kids keep coming to the game because their parents played basketball and their grandparents played basketball, and so they are going to play basketball and that is just the way it is. These boys are very excited to be playing and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The Boys’ All-Tournament Team was AJ Geyer (Monroe Jr.), Elias Dybdahl (JDHS Sr.), Aiden Knudsen (Petersburg Sr.), Zavier Oleson (Monroe Jr.), Logan Carriker (JDHS Jr.), Andre Bean (Kake 8th Gr.), Kurt Kuppert (JDHS Sr.) and Most Valuable Player Award winner Joren Gasga (JDHS Sr.)
The team championship went to the JDHS Crimson Bears.
Saturday Scores:
Boys - JDHS 60, PSG 50; Monroe 70, Kake 13.
Girls - JDHS 60, Fort Yukon 45; Monroe 56, JDHS 50.
Monday Scores:
Boys - Monroe 43, Petersburg 36.
Girls - Monroe 48, Fort Yukon 37.
Tuesday Scores:
Boys - JDHS 72, Kake 20; JDHS 60, Monroe 44.
Girls - JDHS 50, Monroe 44; JDHS 44, Fort Yukon 31.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
