Mt. Edgecumbe defends home gym against Redington
- Klas Stolpe
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Braves’ boys, Lady Braves’ girls run past Huskies, Lady Huskies
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The 3A Mt. Edgecumbe High School boys and girls varsity basketball teams toppled the visiting 3A Redington Huskies in a double-header of hoops action Thursday at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium.
Braves junior Kaden Herrmann (Koliganek) and the Huskies' 6’5” junior Levi Zydonis put their respective teams on their shoulders and carried them through three quarters of hard-fought basketball before the MEHS boys pulled away for the 76-59 win.
“We had a slow start tonight,” MEHS coach Marshall Vest said. “But we continued to ramp up our defensive pressure to generate some momentum. Some great efforts off the bench tonight helped spark us as well in the second half.”
MEHS knew the right spots on the arc and buried 10 shots from distance in the game. Redington hit just one from the arc, but worked an old-time inside game that proved effective through the first half as they dribbled around the perimeter until a drive opened up.
MEHS’ Herrmann and juniors Royce Alstrom (Anchorage) and Guy Goldsberry (Nome) put their stamp on the game in the first quarter as they all buried shots from distance, while Zydonis made it a point to get to the key when the Huskies had possession.
MEHS led 21-16 starting the second quarter and Redington closed that margin by a point, going into the half trailing 36-32. Huskies senior Jake Murdock scored 10 of his 14 game points in the first half.
In the third quarter MEHS’ Herrmann scored on his patented drives or short pull-up jumpers, Alstrom hit from the arc, and junior Xavier Gundersen (Sand Point) hit twice from past that mark to push the Braves to a 55-46 lead with just eight minutes left in the game.
The fourth quarter belonged to Herrmann as he garnished nine points in the stanza while the Huskies’ Zydonis added his second straight quarter of eight points. MEHS’ Alstrom, Goldsberry and Gundersen each hit a basket past the arc in the stanza.
Herrmann led MEHS with 26 points, Goldsberry and Gundersen 15 apiece, Alstrom 14, senior Elden Andrew (New Stuyahok), junior Gordon Lie (Kiana) and senior Kaden Kulukhon (Kaktovik) two each. The Braves hit 15-19 from the charity stripe.
Redington was led by 23 points from Zydonis, Murdock 14, junior James Unfreid nine, senior Kaeden Saxton eight, and senior Ikaia Flores five. The Huskies hit 10-16 from the line.
MEHS is 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the Southeast Conference. The Sitka Wolves are 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the SEC.
Redington is 5-5 overall and trails Kenai 8-4 OA, Houston, Nikiski and Homer in the Peninsula Conference.
The MEHS Lady Braves tamed the Lady Huskies from the opening tip and cruised to a 70-27 win.
In the first eight minutes MEHS senior captain Lucy Capelle (Fairbanks) and junior captain Gracelynn Friske (Sitka) hit from past the arc, sophomore Macey Langlie (Bethel) hit two from that distance, senior captain Tahira Akaran (Kotlik) scored six points on two baskets and two free throws, and freshman Evangeline Hank (Pt. Hope) added a bucket for a 20-7 first quarter lead.
“I felt our offense really came together tonight,” MEHS coach Ryan Gluth said. “We were moving the ball and finding excellent opportunities and capitalizing on them.”
All seven of Redington’s first-quarter points came from junior point guard Abigail Dagomos.
Capelle buried her second shot from distance in the second quarter, Shiona Vent (North Pole) hit from that mark, Hank and junior Ashlynn Lonewolf (Bethel) joined the scorebook, and Akaran added in seven more points as the Lady Braves took a 37-13 lead into the half.
“Everyone from the starters to the bench stepped out, hustled, played great defense and had an impact,” Gluth said.
The Lady Braves would score 14 points in the third quarter and another 19 in the fourth stanza - 10 from senior Halena Slats (Chevak) — for the 70-27 win.
The Lady Huskies had their best eight minutes in the final stanza with Dagomos, sophomore Janessa Gubler, MaJoli Cunningham and Autumn Cornforth all finding the scorebook.
Akaran led MEHS with 17 points, Capelle 14, Slats 10, Friske nine, Langlie six, Hank and sophomore Shiona Vent five apiece, Lonewolf and junior Charity Mila (Barrow) two apiece. The Lady Braves hit 6-9 from the line.
Dagomos led Redington with 12 points, Gubler added six, junior Daisy Cardoso and freshman Kaydence Seymore three apiece, Cunningham two, and Cornforth one. The Lady Huskies hit 3-9 from the line.
“It was a great team win,” Gluth said. “With our team leaders and captains leading the way.”
The Lady Braves are 4-2 overall and the Sitka Lady Wolves are 3-9 overall. They have not met in SEC play this season.
Redington is 4-6 OA and trails Kenai 9-3, Nikiski 4-6, Grace Christian 5-5 in the Peninsula Conference and sits ahead of Houston and Homer.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com
