Lady Braves fall to Huskies 54-50 in final game at state tournament
- Klas Stolpe
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
Mt. Edgecumbe girls tournament ends early at state despite a successful season
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
For the second game in as many days the Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves had to claw back late from a large deficit and, for the second time, fell just short and were eliminated from tournament play 54-50 by the Delta Lady Huskies on Thursday, March 19, at the 2026 March Madness Alaska 3A girls Basketball State Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. The Lady Braves had fallen 43-40 to Kenai on Wednesday to open play.
“The biggest thing is to remind them that we had a great season,” Mt. Edgecumbe coach Ryan Gluth said. “We have come a long way and overcome a bunch of things. This is the first time that most of this group of girls has played together. They are from different communities so just trying to help them see what we have accomplished, the wins that we have had, the successes. And we worked hard to finish the game. Both yesterday and today I think we tried to claw our way back in, but just not quite enough time to do that.”
For the second straight game Mt. Edgecumbe had an uncharacteristic start, falling behind to Delta 5-0 on three scores by Lady Huskies’ Player of the Game selection, freshman Leah Arroyo.
The Lady Braves would settle down and get a score inside by freshman Evangeline Hank (from Pt. Hope) off a sneaky pass by senior Tahira Akaran (Kotlik). Akaran followed with a driving score as did junior Gracelynn Friske (Sitka) and Akaran finished off the 8-0 run with a spinning move in the lane for an 8-5 lead. Friske was named MEHS’ Player Of the Game at its conclusion.
Delta put another run on the board and led 11-8 on a fast break by eighth grader Justice Glass off an assist from L. Arroyo, a rebound by freshman Maliah Jackson and outlet pass assist to sophomore Valencea Beck for a reverse layup and another fast break score by L. Arroyo with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.
MEHS’ Friske hit from the arc with five seconds left to tie the game at 11-11.
Delta opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run to lead 23-11 before junior Charity Mila (Barrow) hit a free throw. Following a basket by Delta’s Beck, the Lady Braves’ Friske and Akaran each scored to trail 25-16 with under three minutes left in the half. Delta would fastbreak two more scores, by L. Arroyo and Jackson, and lead 30-16 but MEHS’ Friske pushed the ball inside to Hank for a score as the half ended.
The two sides traded baskets through the third quarter with Delta holding a 43-30 lead as the quarter ended. In the stanza MEHS had scores from Akaran on a drive, Hank with a hook shot, Mila inside, a steal and assist by Akaran to Friske who connected from the arc and a long three-point shot by Akaran with 20 seconds to play. Delta’s Arroyo and Beck did most of the Lady Huskies’ damage with Beck hitting at the buzzer.
Delta opened the final eight minutes with a full-court dribble and score by senior Iris Haas and after a few missed shots and turnovers Friske stole a ball from Hass that also earned the Delta player a foul, and Friske found room on the arc with the possession and buried a shot to pull to 45-33.
Points would slowly fall.
Strong defensive stands by Mila and Hank inside and trapping defense by Akaran, Friske and senior Lucy Capelle, among others, earned possessions and Hank was fouled on a scoring shot. Hank hit the free throw and MEHS trailed 45-36. MEHS junior Ashlynn Lonewolf (Bethel), freshman Zoya Tuzroyluk and sophomore Shiona Vent (North Pole) found quality play and Angela Ayuluk (Chevak) and Macey Langlie (Bethel) were noted as well.
A steal by Akaran led to a rebound score by Mila for 45-38, a defense caused turnover game Friske a look at a basket that would miss, but Hank followed for a 45-40 deficit with three minutes left in the game.
Two more Delta turnovers resulted in a free throw by Hank and two free throws by Akaran to cut the lead to 45-43 with two minutes left.
Delta’s Haas dribbled full court to score for 47-43 and after an MEHS turnover, Delta’s Beck dribbled the court and scored for 49-43.
A free throw by Hank cut the lead to 49-44, and Friske and Akaran trapped Delta before halfcourt, and the ball went to Capelle who scored to trail 49-46 with 1:25 left on the clock.
A missed Delta shot was followed by the Lady Huskies’ Haas for a 51-46 lead.
MEHS’ Akaran hit two free throws to trail 51-48 and the defense forced a turnover that allowed Hank to score to trail 51-50 with 41 seconds remaining.
Delta’s Glass hit a free throw for 52-50, but missed the next and Hank rebounded for MEHS. The Lady Braves would miss a shot, but a turnover by the Lady Huskies gave the ball back. The two teams tangled for a jump ball that gave possession to Delta with nine seconds left and Haas hit one of two free throws for 53-50.
The second free throw was missed and Mt. Edgecumbe looked to find an open shooter on the arc, but the ball was turned over and the Lady Braves fouled Delta’s Beck who hit one of two free throws for the 54-50 final.
Akaran and Hank led Mt. Edgecumbe with 15 points apiece, Friske added 13, Mila five and Capella two. The Lady Braves made four shots past the arc, 15 closer in and 8-11 from the line. They had 15 fouls with Akaran and Tuzroyluk whistled for four apiece.
L. Arroyo led Delta with 19 points, Beck added 18, Haas nine, Jackson and Glass three apiece and sophomore Aubrey Bialik two. The Lady Huskies hit four three-point shots, 16 closer in and 10-16 at the line. They had 12 fouls with L. Arroyo notching four.
Mt. Edgecumbe finishes the season with an 18-6 record, a Southeast Conference Region V championship, and a strong showing of play and sportsmanship at state.
What makes the teams from Mt. Edgecumbe unique is also what makes the process difficult. The Lady Braves come from communities across the state to attend Alaska’s only state-operated public boarding school. Their different family heritages and cultural history and willingness to seek new experiences and challenges outside what they have known growing up is something typically valued by college students and an amazing quest by young high school age student/athletes.
“We try to communicate with the ones we know are coming to Mt. Edgecumbe,” Gluth said. “To work in the offseason in their gyms of their respective communities, some of them don’t even have gyms. They work hard and some travel to play ball. As soon as they get back in the fall we provide as many open gyms and opportunities as we can to get to know them, to play together, and create opportunities once they are at school. Every year it is a different group of girls. Some do come back, obviously, but others it is their first time assembling together so there is a lot of chemistry. And we did that quite well this year, they have been a great group of players and people, so that is a good thing.”
Delta advances to the fourth/sixth-place game at 11 a.m. Friday against #8 Kotzebue, a 53-51 elimination game winner over #5 Galena on Thursday. Galena opened the tournament with a 66-54 loss to #4 Grace Christian, Kotzebue opened with a 71-20 loss to #1 Barrow. Delta opened with a 59-28 loss to #2 Monroe.
The #1 Mt. Edgecumbe boys defeated #8 Houston 79-35 on Wednesday and #4 Sitka defeated #5 Delta 53-42. MEHS and Sitka play in Thursday semifinal (will be updated when available). #2 Nome-Beltz, a 73-29 winner over #7 Valdez, and #3 Barrow, a 59-50 winner over #6 Kenai, play in the other winners bracket semifinal (updates to follow)
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls play at 12:30 p.m. Friday in a consolation bracket semifinal against #3 Wasilla, a 63-50 loser to #6 Service on Wednesday. #7 JDHS lost to Bartlett 53-34. Bartlett and Service play in a winners-bracket semifinal at 4:45 p.m. Friday.
The other consolation bracket semifinal features #8 North Pole, a 79-42 loser to Mountain City Christian Academy, and #5 West Anchorage, a 59-47 loser to #4 Colony. MCCA and Colony play in a winners-bracket semifinal at 3:15 p.m. Friday.
The #8 JDHS boys will play at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the consolation bracket semifinal against #4 Service, a 69-67 loser to #5 South Anchorage on Wednesday. JDHS lost to #1 West Valley 71-48. West Valley faces South at 6:15 p.m. Friday in a winners bracket semifinal.
The other consolation bracket semifinal features #7 Wasilla, an 80-52 loser to #2 Grace Christian, playing #6 Dimond, a 55-50 loser to #3 Lathrop. Grace and Lathrop play in the 7:45 p.m. winners bracket semifinal Friday.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
