JDHS hoops machine stalls at home, on the road against MEHS
- Klas Stolpe
- 19 hours ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 34 minutes ago
Crimson Bears girls lose 55-26 to visiting Lady Braves, boys nipped 75-66 away
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls and boys basketball teams played their respective weekend series openers against the Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves and Braves with an unlucky pair of losses on Friday, Feb. 13, at different locations.
The JDHS Crimson Bears girls lost big against the visiting MEHS Lady Braves, falling 55-26 inside the George Houston Gymnasium, while the JDHS boys kept their score closer but ended up on the wrong end of the tally inside the Braves’ B.J. McGillis gym, 75-66.
“I think we can all agree that we did not come ready to play tonight with the kind of fight we normally have,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. We don’t have any excuses, they just played better than us. Our defense lacked individually and on help side. Our shots did not fall. It will be different tomorrow, we are smart and we do have a lot of fire in us. We just have to get to work defensively first, and offense will come.”
Mt. Edgecumbe junior Gracelynn Friske (Sitka) scored the first basket of the evening inside JDHS’ gym. JDHS senior Gwen Nizich answered with one free throw and that would be the closest the Crimson Bears came to being in the game.
“Over the last month we have been improving every game,” MEHS coach Ryan Gluth said. “More and more chemistry. We have some really talented girls, they are playing as a team and are not selfish…I wasn’t expecting a 30-point win, but I was expecting us to win. I just knew that we had it in us, and we came out and hustled and played really well and really hard.”
The Lady Braves closed out the first quarter on a 17-6 run that included a shot past the arc and a rebound score by freshman Evangeline Hank (Pt. Hope), a spinning layup and a shot past the arc by senior Tahira Akaran (Kotlik), a put back by Friske, another put back by junior Ashlynn Lonewolf (Bethel), a free throw by senior Lucy Capelle (Fairbanks), and another rebound score by Hank.
JDHS had a shot past the arc by senior Cambry Lockhart with 3:45 left in the stanza and another shot past the arc by Nizich with 1:30 left. In between the Crimson Bears missed over 10 shots.
MEHS’ Hank had two blocked shots and five rebounds in the first eight minutes and the Lady Braves had numerous follow-up shots and defensive rebounds.
“My mindset is to just keep pushing myself no matter what I have going on physically and mentally,” the Lady Braves’ Hank said. “I just try and push myself to be the best that I can be. No matter what the costs are, I tell myself to keep going and keep pushing.”
Hank said she has been serious about basketball since being an elementary student at Tikigaq School (PK-12) in Pt. Hope.
“I have been playing basketball for a long time,” Hank said. “My older brother (2025 Tikigaq graduate and 2A all-state player Aqquilluk Hank) actually got me into it and he is probably the best coach I know.”
MEHS opened the second quarter on a 9-5 run that included four straight rebounds and two altered shots by Hank while JDHS found a fast break bucket by Nizich and a shot past the arc by sophomore Kyndal Saceda but the Crimson Bears would only muster one more free throw in the final three minutes of the stanza while the Lady Braves added that and an additional two field goals to lead 33-13 at the half.
The Crimson Bears played the Lady Braves even in the third quarter, but trailed 44-24 heading into the final eight minutes of action and only tallied one field goal with three minutes remaining in the game while MEHS scored 11 in the stanza for the 55-26 final.
“We just had a bad game,” JDHS’ C. Lockhart said. “There were a handful of shots that didn’t fall that normally do. That being said, we can’t rely on shots falling. We need to depend on crashing the boards, getting stops on defense, and finding other ways to score when the priority options aren’t working. I know we can play so much better than that. Tomorrow we are going to play more as a whole with everyone contributing their best aspects of the game! We needed to show some fight and grit which wasn’t there. I believe we have that, and tomorrow we are hoping for a different ball game.”
Nizich led JDHS with eight points, Saceda added six, C. Lockhart five, sophomore Athena Warr three, junior Layla Tokuoka and sophomore Sadie Lockhart two apiece. The Crimson Bears hit 4-7 at the free throw line. The normally sharp-shooting Crimson Bears made just four shots past the arc and five closer in.
“Collectively we struggled tonight and shot a low percentage from the outside,” JDHS’ Nizich said. “Tomorrow we will work more cohesively, relying on penetration and dishing. We hope to implement a new play we have been developing this week. We will come out with intensity from buzzer to buzzer and crash the boards hard!”
Hank led MEHS with 18 points, Friske added 17, Akaran 14, Lonewolf four, Capelle and sophomore Macey Langlie (Bethel) one apiece. The Lady Braves hit 7-12 at the line, made six shots past the arc and 15 inside.
“We know Juneau is a good team,” MEHS’ Gluth said. “We know they have a bunch of shooters so we know it is not always going to go like tonight. So we just have to be ready to hustle and come back tomorrow and not count on the same thing as it was tonight. Just come back hungry and ready to play.”
The JDHS girls will play the MEHS Lady Braves at 6 p.m. Saturday (C 3 p.m., JV 4:30 p.m.).
On the road at Mt. Edgecumbe the JDHS boys fell into an early hole and spent the game battling to close the deficit.
JDHS trailed 22-10 after eight minutes despite the play inside from senior Elias Dybdahl and junior Logan Carriker and outside from seniors Kurt Kuppert and Brandon Casperson.
“We missed a lot of easy shots early in the game that would have kept it close,” JDHS boys coach Robert Casperson said. “We came out and battled in the third and closed the gap to five a couple times in the fourth quarter, but never made the next play, whether it was a defensive stop and rebound, or making our next open shot.”
MEHS junior Kaden Herrmann (Koliganek) scored 20 of his game-high 31 points in the first half and junior Xavier Gundersen (Sand Point) 10 of his 25, to give the Braves a 41-26 lead going into halftime.
JDHS started to pick up their defensive intensity in the second half which led to better looks for shots and the Crimson Bears trailed by just eight, 49-41, heading into the final eight minutes.
JDHS seniors Noah Ault, Christian Rielly, Joren Gasga, Kuppert, Casperson and Dybdahl all found the basket in the fourth quarter but five MEHS also found the scoreboard, including Gundersen with 15 points as the Braves held on for the 75-66 final.
“Tyler Frisby and Noah Ault gave us a lift off the bench with their defensive effort,” JDHS coach Casperson said. “They play really hard all the time…Our in-game stats had Mt. Edge at 72% from two and 50% from three in the first half. We were pretty fortunate to only be down 10…We are not defending to our capabilities yet. We will try to fix it tomorrow.”
Gasga led JDHS with 12 points, Kuppert and Dybdahl 11 apiece, B. Casperson 10, Carriker seven, Ault five, Rielly four, Frisby and sophomore Micah Nelson three apiece. The Crimson Bears hit 15-28 from the free throw line, had seven shots made past the arc and 15 closer in.
MEHS’ Herrmann and Gundersen scored 30 apiece, junior Guy Goldsberry (Nome) seven, senior Elden Andrew (New Stuyahok) and junior Royce Alstrom (Anchorage) four apiece. The Braves were 8-14 at the line, hit four shots past the arc and 25 closer in..
JDHS JV Girls 36, MEHS 31
JDHS - Bela Pyare 12, Lydia Goins 8, Kyndal Sackad 8, Blythe Lockhart 6. MEHS - Shiona Vent (North Pole) 7, Langlie 7, Hank 5, Angela Ayuluk (Chevak) 4, Zoya Turroyluk (Pt. Hope) 4, Audrena Dull 2, Charity Mila (Barrow) 2.
JDHS C Girls 8, MEHS 46
JDHS - Sunny Dutton 4, Hannah Dolan 2, Autumn Katasse 2. MEHS - Breana Nelson 20, Alonza Topkok 17, Ariana Wassilie 5, Brea Hunter 4.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
