JDHS senior Gwen Nizich scores 1,001th career point
- Klas Stolpe
- 51 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Crimson Bears honor cheer, dance seniors in win over Tri-Valley
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé basketball senior Gwen Nizich came around a screen, received a pass from junior Layla Tokuoka, and in one fluid motion set her feet, rose from bent knees into the air, pointed her elbow at the rim and lifted "The Rock" skyward, her wrist flipping the orb through the cheers of fans watching as it slid through the net for her 1,001th career point with six minutes and 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
“It was just one of our normal offenses,” Nizich said. “I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was just looking for an opportunity to score.”
Nizich needed eight points to reach the 1,000-point milestone when the game tipped off.
“I wasn’t trying to let it dictate how I played,” Nizich said. “But there was definitely a countdown going in my head because I knew I was pretty close.”
Five shots missed her mark early.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Nizich said. “I knew that when the time was right it would come naturally if we are all playing cohesively.”
She scored career point 994 just 20 seconds into play, added two free throws for career point 996 and an 11-3 lead with 2:35 left in the first quarter, closed the stanza with a career point 999 past the arc for a 16-7 lead and then gave fans just a few seconds to squirm in their second quarter seats before passing her goal.
“I came off a screen and Layla passed me the ball. As soon as it left my hand I knew that I was going to hit 1,000 points. It was an amazing feeling. I was filled with a lot of excitement. Every shot that I took I was thinking ‘go in, go in.’ On that one I actually said it out loud...First of all I am just super grateful that God gave me the opportunity and ability to play basketball because it has been so much more than a game throughout my life. And I am so grateful to have my family, and friends and coaches and teammates and all the people who have supported me endlessly.”
Nizich would add two free throws and a basket in the third quarter, and two shots past the arc and a layup in the fourth quarter to hit career point 1013.
JDHS did not let Tri-Valley break single digits in any quarter. The Crimson Bears led 16-7 after eight minutes, 33-15 at the half and 47-24 starting the final stanza.
Nizich and junior Layla Tokuoka led JDHS with 21 points apiece. Tokuoka hit 10 of her points in the second quarter. Senior Cambry Lockhart added 14 points, sophomore Athena Warr four, sophomore Kyndal Saceda three, and sophomore Sadie Lockhart and freshman Bela Pyare two apiece. JDHS hit eight shots past the arc (5 in the fourth quarter), 17 shots closer in and went 9-10 at the free throw line.
Freshman Lydia Miner and sophomore Kelty Stainbrook led Tri-Valley with nine points apiece, senior Sierra Bohanan five, senior Iris Wappel three, and junior Abigail Walker two. The Lady Warriors hit one shot past the arc, 11 closer in and went 3-7 at the line.
The JDHS boys followed with a 67-45 win over the Tri-Valley boys.
Senior Joren Gasga made sure the Crimson Bears did not stumble out of their home den by scoring a game-high 23 points, 10 of which were needed in a 15-15 first quarter.
JDHS allowed just two Tri-Valley baskets in the second quarter while scoring 17 points behind eight more Gasga points for a 32-19 lead at the half and were never threatened the rest of the way. JDHS led 59-28 starting the final stanza behind a third quarter scoring barrage of eight points from junior Logan Carriker, senior Kurt Kuppert’s seven and senior Elias Dybdahl’s five. Carriker totaled 13 points in the contest, Kuppert 12, senior Dybdahl and sophomore Micah Nelson five apiece, junior Hunter Carte three, and senior Christian Rielly and Tyler Frisby two apiece. JDHS hit 10 shots past the arc, 15 closer in and hit 7-9 at the line.
Junior Isaiah Mayo and Miciah Graham led Tri-Valley with 10 points apiece, senior Henry Miner added nine, senior Owen Jusczak and freshman Atigun Rhea eight apiece. The Warriors hit two shots past the arc, 17 closer in and were 5-12 from the line.
The JDHS dance team honored seniors Yetke Mertl and Claire Snyder between the girls and boys games, and the recently crowned national champion JDHS cheer team followed, honoring cheer seniors Hadley Bex, Marlee Gines, Renz Hill, Mati Iona, Simon Iputi, Jonah Mahle, Megan Pierce, Karina San Miguel, Kira Tupou, Richard Tupou, Arely Vera Garcia, Audrey Yu, and manager Shaelyn Martinez.
The JDHS girls and boys senior basketball players and pep band seniors will be honored Saturday night after the girls 5 p.m. game and before the boys play at 7 p.m.
The Pep band seniors are Brynna Morgan, Sarah Rivera, Emerson Newell, Rowen Barr, Cayman Huff, Kelsie Powers, Lorelei Urrutia-Lugo, Aaron Doten-Ferguson and Leslie Zamora.
At the end of last season Gwen Nizich had scored 860 points for her career. She and head coach Tanya Nizich, her aunt, knew the milestone mark was achievable.
“We totaled them up before the season started and checked off point as each game progressed,” G. Nizich said.
Her first career point came via a freshman layup during a tournament in Las Vegas.
“I was not even thinking ‘oh, one day I am going to make 1000 points,’” she said.
Tanya Nizich has coached her niece since fourth grade. In middle school, during the COVID break, their club team played close to 65 games. That team also included now senior Cambry Lockhart and junior Layla Tokuoka.
“We thought that break would devastate our maturity for the game of basketball,” T. Nizich said. “But it actually enhanced it because we had a group that traveled up north two times a month for 65 games in a year and a half. More games than we would have playing three years of high school.”
Aunt and niece do compete. T. Nizich played four seasons for the University of Alaska Anchorage and as a senior broke UAA’s single-season record for three-pointers made with 73. The 2000 JDHS graduate led the Crimson Bears to two region titles and two state semifinals. G. Nizich and the Crimson Bears are ready to win their second region title and second trip to state.
“I need a rematch against her in horse,” Gwen Nizich said of her aunt.
Said Tanya Nizich, “She is just being nice…Even if we go hunting and I get a deer, she goes out the next day and gets a bigger deer. She looked up my points in high school (954) and she surpassed that. It is just a fun competition.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
