Lady Braves fall 43-40 to Lady Kardinals to open state tournament
- Klas Stolpe
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
Mt. Edgecumbe will play in a consolation bracket game on Thursday to stay alive
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves opened the 2026 March Madness Alaska 3A girls Basketball State Championships on Wednesday needing just five more seconds of their 32 minutes on the court during a 43-40 loss to the Kenai Lady Kardinals at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.
Trailing 43-40 with 23 seconds left in the game the Lady Braves could not find a shot and called a timeout with 13.7 left. Once again the Lady Kardinals defense limited options and Mt. Edgecumbe called a timeout with 5.9 seconds remaining.
On the next play Mt. Edgecumbe had their shot from the arc blocked and the ball came back to the Lady Braves possession, but the buzzer sounded.
“We worked so hard and Kenai is a good team,” Mt. Edgecumbe coach Ryan Gluth said. “Both teams have gotten better as the season has progressed. We knew it was going to be close and a fight until the very end. Just didn’t come out the way we wanted it to come out. Five more seconds would have made a big difference. We were only down by three and we tried to get it in the right hands. Just couldn’t quite get the shot off.”
Mt. Edgecumbe had started the fourth quarter trailing 40-30 and senior Lucy Capelle (Fairbanks) hit a shot past the arc, senior Tahira Akaran (Kotlik) hit two free throws, freshman Evangeline Hank (Pt. Hope) blocked a shot for possession, and Akaran scored on a fast break to pull to 40-37. With 2:41 to play Lady Braves junior Gracelynn Friske (Sitka) scored to pull to 40-39 with 3:18 left in the game.
Mt. Edgecumbe’s defense held Kenai to a lone field goal in the final stanza with the Lady Kardinals freshman Maci Miller scoring for a 42-39 lead with 2:41 left.
Mt. Edgecumbe had a steal and free throw by Akaran with 38 seconds left to pull to 42-40 but Kenai’s Miller hit a free throw for the 43-40 lead with 20 seconds left.
The back-and-forth game began with Kenai taking a 9-8 first-quarter lead and the Lady Kardinals senior Ellsi Miller hit a shot past the arc for a 12-9 advantage before Mt. Edgecumbe’s Hank hit two shots inside to tie the game at 12-12.
Kenai got a basket from sophomore Bryleigh Williams and two from freshman Maci Miller to go up 19-12. Mt. Edgecumbe would again strike back with two rebound follow-up shots by junior Charity Mila (Barrow), a free throw by Friske and a driving shot by Mila to tie the score at 19-19.
Kenai senior Willow Graham scored with under a minute left in the half and Mt. Edgecumbe’s Mila followed another shot to tie the game at 21-21 at the half.
Kenai had an 8-2 run to start the second half with Miller and Williams doing the damage and would push out to the 40-30 lead with the final quarter to play.
“We have always communicated throughout the season that every game is an opportunity for us to get better,” Gluth said. “We are going to play our best, come out and be ready to play whoever it is we are playing and finish the season strong. We’ll get better each game, each quarter, and each half, and that is what our goal is.”
Akaran led MEHS with nine points, Mila and Hank added eight apiece, Friske seven, senior Lucy Capelle six, and junior Ashlynn Lonewolf two. The Lady Braves hit just one three-point shot, 15 closer in and were 7-9 from the free throw line. MEHS plays a noon consolation bracket game on Thursday against Delta, a 59-28 loser to Monroe.
M. Miller led Kenai with 21 points, freshman Zana Lundahl eight, Williams six, senior Ellis Miller four, junior Jenica Anderson and senior Willow Graham two apiece. The Kardinals hit six shots past the arc, 11 closer in and 3-6 from the line. Kenai advances to a 3:15 p.m. Thursday semifinal against Monroe, a 59-28 winner over Delta.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
