JDHS girls topple Fort Yukon, fall to Monroe in CCC openers
- Klas Stolpe
- Dec 28, 2025
- 9 min read
Crimson Bears battle through two tough games with Lady Eagles, Lady Rams
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
With three games already on their resume the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls were all business in their opening games Saturday during the George Houston Capital City Classic basketball tournament inside the tournament namesake’s Gymnasium.
The Crimson Bears tipped off the tournament with a 60-45 win over the Fort Yukon Lady Eagles and followed that with down to the wire 56-50 loss to the Monroe Catholic Lady Rams later in the evening. Monroe is last season’s ASAA 3A third-place finisher and graduated just three seniors.
Opening against two-time defending ASAA 1A state champion Fort Yukon the Crimson Bears put three points up in the first 10 seconds as senior Gwen Nizich scored on a drive and was fouled by one of the Lady Eagles top defending seniors Nellie Ward, making the free throw for a 3-0 lead, and roughly 30 seconds later sophomore Sadie Lockhart followed a shot for a 5-0 lead. On Fort Yukon’s next possession JDHS senior Cambry Lockhart stole a ball and fed Nizich who fed junior Layla Tokuoka for a 7-0 lead.
“We definitely didn’t want to underestimate Fort Yukon because we knew they were going to be scrappy and aggressive,” Cambry Lockhart said. “They have some great wins in the past so we came into it not underestimating anybody. We wanted to work hard on defense and offense and look for good shots all around with patience and also with a tempo we can set on our own.”
Fort Yukon was uncommonly off from past the arc, an area they are known statewide as being deadly from. The Lady Eagles had a rebound basket from junior Karli Thomas and an inside put back from senior Kylee Carroll to pull to 7-4 but JDHS would go on a seven to two run behind sophomore Athena Warr inside, Tokuoka from the arc and S. Lockhart from the free throw line to take a 14-6 lead.
JDHS would close out the quarter on an eight-to-two run behind a Nizich shot from deep, a rebound put back from Warr and a shot past the arc from sophomore Kyndal Saceda for a 22-8 lead.
JDHS continued their aggressive play in the second quarter and Fort Yukon still struggled to find their rhythm. The Crimson Bears’ Warr scored inside to open the stanza and Nizich and Tokuoka closed out the half scoring the next 12 points for a 36-15 lead. The Lady Eagles N. Ward scored from past the arc and closer in and K. Carroll had two free throws to account for their seven second-quarter points.
“Key for us is that in practice this week we decided that we have to let the ball go, we have to have shot attempts if we are going to score,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “And having multiple people taking those shots, not just one person, we have to be a threat from many different places on the court with different personnel. And we had multiple people eager to do that for us. Fort Yukon is a great team. We knew at some point they were going to light it up from outside, we definitely talked about that at halftime and they did, they are a good shooting team from the outside. And very scrappy.”
Fort Yukon outscored JDHS in the third quarter with N. Ward and senior Jane Ward finding their strokes from past the arc to counter the continued points from JDHS’ Nizich who kept the Crimson Bears in front 48-33 with just the final stanza to play.
“They are really tough players,” Fort Yukon senior Jane Ward said. “A different environment too. It was a good game and just different. They play better defense than 1A we are used to and they are more in transition so they are way faster and they move the ball quicker so I think that really challenged us with our shooting. It is just way different, they play really tough…We have to have more talking, more hustling and probably just being smarter with our shots. Just having a talk. This is our first game so we are trying to get all the nervousness out. And this is our first time playing a 4A varsity team too, so just getting the nerves out.”
JDHS’ G. Nizich opened the fourth quarter with a score, but Fort Yukon’s N. Ward hit back-to-back shots past the arc to pull to 50-39.
JDHS then had an 8-0 run behind free throws from sophomore Freyja Shelton-Walker, Tokuoka and C. Lockhart, and a basket by freshman Blythe Lockhart for a 58-39 lead.
“They really came to play,” Tukuoka said. “They didn’t back down whatsoever and I think that one thing I can work on is not overplaying and don’t underestimate the opponents no matter if they are 1A, 2A, or 3A it doesn’t matter.”
JDHS continued to rotate a strong lineup and sophomore Lydia Goins put in the Crimson Bears' final basket while Fort Yukon found a free throw from senior Kylee Carroll, a shot past the arc from J. Ward and a score from senior Jewel Mahler for the 60-45 final.
“We weren’t hitting,” For Yukon coach Joshua Cadzow said. “We missed, like, what? 20 free throws. I expected the pressure from Juneau, their home town, they have played three games and they came out blazing. It took us a while to get into the rhythm, our first game of the season. The girls did good against a bigger school, a bigger team, I am proud of them. We are just going to come back, learn from our mistakes. Hopefully we will shake this one off and go on to the next game.”
G. Nizich led JDHS with a game high 28 points, Tkuoka 16, S. Lockhart and Warr six apiece, Saceda three, B. Lockhart and Goins two apiece, C. Lockhart and Shelton-Walker one apiece.
The Crimson Bears were 8-12 from the free-throw line. The Lady Eagles were 5-14.
Fort Yukon was led by N. Ward with 19 points, K. Carroll 10, J. Ward nine, Mahler five and K. Thomas two.
In their nightcap action the Crimson Bears never led against the Lady Rams despite being as aggressive as the visitors throughout.
“The difference in this game is we were taking a lot of shots on the perimeter specifically 3-pointers, that were not falling,” JDHS coach Nizich said. “And when that happens we need to recognize early on that we need to start attacking the basket - looking for high percentage shots.”
Monroe junior Leila Church scored with a driving layup to start the game and JDHS’ G. Nizich answered with her own twist through defenders.
The Lady Rams then went on a 6-0 run behind a rebound score by senior Emersyn Cortez, a Church drive and a steal by sophomore Chany Turiel who fed freshman Gemma Geyer.
JDHS’ Tokuoka was fouled on a made basket and added the free throw to close the gap to 8-5 but Monroe’s Turiel hit from the arc for an 11-5 lead.
The Lady Rams would close the stanza on an 11-2 run to lead 22-7 after eight minutes.
Monroe senior Trinity Turiel opened the second quarter from past the arc, added two free throws a bit later, and accounted for all the Lady Rams' scoring in the stanza with another make past the arc for a 30-12 lead.
JDHS would go on their own run to close the quarter as Warr hit inside, and then Tokuoka, G. Nizich, Saceda and C. Lockhart all buried shots past the arc to close to 30-26 at the half.
“It meant a lot today because it was our first game of the season,” Monroe junior Leila Church said after the game. “We were just super excited to play. It means a lot, first game first win. We just know we have to play tough, play hard and keep our energy up and keep it consistent throughout the game. Juneau was hitting a bunch of shots right before half and closed the lead, but once we had a talk at halftime we got back into it.”
Monroe’s Church and Cortez opened the third quarter with scores for a 34-26 lead, but were answered by a score inside by JDHS’ Warr and a short jumper from B. Lockhart to pull to 34-30.
Monroe would answer with another run including a shot past the arc by Cortez, a basket by Church, a pair of free throws by Geyer off an intentional foul that also gave the ball to the Lady Rams and C. Turiel hit past the arc. She would add another deep shot for a 47-30 lead.
JDHS. Would get a pair of free throws from G. Nizich and the senior added another make past the arc to pull to 47-35 as the quarter ended.
“Monroe is a strong team and they dominated us on the boards,” G. Nizich said after the game. “When we play them on Tuesday, we will focus on boxing them out and contesting their shots from the outside. I look forward to competing against them again.”
The fourth quarter opened with JDHS’ Warr scoring off a pick and roll and Tokuoka spinning in the key for a basket to pull to 47-39.
Monroe’s Cortez answered from past the arc and JDHS’ Nizich hit a short jumper to stay close at 50-42.
JDHS’ Tokuoka forced a turnover and Nizich scored on a drive to pull to 50-44, but Monroe’s Church dribbled the length of the court and scored for a 52-44 lead, and Cortez scored on a fast break off a JDHS missed shot for 54-44 with 1:50 remaining to play.
JDHS increased their pressure one last time and C. Lockhart scored on a drive with 1:40 remaining in the game, G. Nizich scored on a steal with 1:08 left, and Warr hit inside to pull to 54-50 with 0:49 left to play.
Monroe’s Geyer answered with a score for 56-50 and JDHS fouled for possession with Monroe missing four straight free throws to keep the final score.
G. Nizich led JDHS with 17 points, C. Lockhart 10, Warr eight, Tokuoka five, B. Lockhart four, and Shelton-Walker and Saceda three apiece.
“I am hoping to make some adjustments for the next time we meet them,” JDHS coach Nizich said. “Limiting their outside shots, as they’re a good shooting team. I was proud that we were getting on the ground for any loose ball we could and the grit we had coming back from 17 down.”
The Crimson Bears were just 3-5 from the charity stripe, the Lady Rams were 5-16.
Monroe was led by L. Church with 15 points, C. Turiel added 13, Cortez 12, and Geyer and T. Turiel eight apiece.
“It is our first games and we get to play a great team in Juneau, we get to play them twice,” Monroe coach Tim Church said. “And opening up the season in an environment like this, I mean, this is a basketball dream right here. You have got the band, the cheer leaders, the crowd, it is electric, it is everything you play for, everything you dream of…We just stayed together, we made a bunch of foolish mistakes, you know, jitters. I mean we are playing against a great team at home. So I am just everybody stayed together, we made plays when we had too and we pulled it out. It is luck. A little bit of luck on our side, but these girls played hard and they have been practicing for this for three weeks to finally get on the courts. So it is just great to see that we got it done. We know that we have a huge battle with them again on Tuesday which I am glad we have a couple of days until then.”
The George Houston Capital City Classic tournament runs through Tuesday.
Sunday:
3 p.m. - Shooting Contests - Open to the public.
Monday:
1 p.m. - Girls - JDHS Crimson Bears inter-squad game.
3 p.m. - Boys - Petersburg Vikings vs. Monroe Catholic Rams.
5 p.m. - Girls - Ft. Yukon Lady Eagles vs. Monroe Catholic Lady Rams.
7 p.m. - Boys - Kake Thunderbirds vs. JDHS Crimson Bears.
Tuesday:
1 p.m. - Girls - JDHS Crimson Bears vs. Monroe Catholic Lady Rams.
3 p.m. - Boys - Petersburg Vikings vs. Kake Thunderbirds.
5 p.m. - Girls - Ft. Yukon Lady Eagles vs. JDHS Crimson Bears.
7 p.m. - Boys - Monroe Catholic Rams vs. JDHS Crimson Bears.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
