Petersburg girls run past Haines, Craig girls topple Wrangell in 2A region openers
- Klas Stolpe
- 22 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Tow scores 15 to lead Lady Vikings, Steffen scores 14 to lead Lady Panthers
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Petersburg High School girls basketball team won the opening tip and the opening game of the 2026 Region V Basketball Tournament on Wednesday in the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé George Houston Gymnasium.
The fourth-seed Lady Vikings defeated the fifth-seed Haines Lady Glacier Bears 43-17 behind 15 points from junior Lexie Tow who also won the tip.
Senior Natalee Bertagnoli added 10 points for Petersburg, sophomore Zia Hulebak six, senior Aurora Wolf four, senior Rikka Miller three, sophomores Simone Nilsen and Cadence Flint two apiece and Emilia Anderson 1.
The Lady Vikings had one 3-point shot, 15 closer in and were 10-16 from the line.
CC Elliott led Haines with eight points including the Lady Glacier Bears' first three baskets in the first quarter. Freshman Brylea Swaner added three points, freshmen Sophia Hedden and Emma Lapeyri and junior Ali Lloyd had two apiece. Haines hit six field goals and were 5-6 from the line.
Petersburg led 10-6 after eight minutes and then opened a 23-9 lead at the half that included four straight steals by Tow who converted three for scores in a Lady Vikings press that gave Haines pause. Petersburg led 37-11 after three quarters.
The Lady Vikings advance to play top seed Metlakatla on Thursday at 9 a.m. Haines plays an elimination game at Thursday at noon against Wrangell, who suffered a 62-32 loss to Craig.
“I feel like it was a nice, like, warmup game,” Tow said. “To get us started for the rest of the games. Tomorrow we have Metlakatla, and that is one of the teams we have wanted to play all season and beat. I feel like this game kind of like helped us get motivated for that game.”
CRAIG 62 WRANGELL 32
The second-seed Craig girls jumped on third-seed Wrangell early and didn’t slow down as they posted a 62-32 win.
“It is a pretty big win for us,” Craig junior Ashlynn Smith said. “We are really excited to show everyone what we are made of and get to the region ‘chip. We are really excited to showcase everything we have worked on all season long.”
The showcase started with Smith scoring off the center tip and then the Lady Panthers went on a 16-1 run behind a shot past the arc from senior Chelsea Thompson, a fast break layup by freshman Jayla Edenshaw, another from Thompson, a shot from the arc by junior Sara Steffen and another in the paint, a steal by Smith who fed Thompson for a score, a Smith fast break and a layup by freshman Alli Demmert for an 18-1 lead.
Wrangell senior Christina Johnson stopped the run with a score off a steal by Lady Wolves junior Alexis Easterly to end the first quarter at 18-3.
The Lady Wolves were without the services of junior Alana Harrison. The injured Southeast star was on the bench cheering her teammates into a better second quarter. Lady Wolves junior Hailey Cook hit a shot from the arc in the stanza and senior Shailyn Nelson had three scores in the paint.
Craig’s Smith continued her strong play in the second quarter with two more steals, a shot past the arc and two shots closer in, Edenshaw added a basket and Steffen added two scores inside as the Lady Panthers lead increased to 31-12 at the half.
“We came in at halftime of this game and we just had to be their biggest cheerleaders,” Wrangell coach Christy Brown said of trying to pick up her team. “It is hard when you are down by 10, 15, or 20 points to try and dig deep and get to the next level, but it is what it is and we just need to try and stay positive and do the things we can do to make that happen.”
Wrangell would put together a 10-point third quarter and another 10 points in the final eight minutes, but Craig hit for 15 and 16 in the final two stanzas for the 62-32 win.
“I think it was a team effort,” Craig coach Vanessa James said. “We played together as a team, moved the ball really well and it was everybody looking for each other. And the defensive effort was huge for us, getting deflections, getting steals, looking for the girl filling the lane. A complete team effort and that is what makes me most proud.”
Steffan led Craig with 14 points, Smith and Thompson added 13 points apiece, Nelson and Demmert seven apiece, Edenshaw six and sophomore Alaya Bates two. The Lady Panthers hit five shots past the arc, 22 closer in and were 3-7 at the line.
Johnson led Wrangell with 12 points, Cook and Nelson added six apiece, Easterly five and freshman Kaiya Brevick three. The Lady Wolves hit four shots past the arc, seven closer in and went 6-10 at the line.
Craig advances to play in Friday’s 3 p.m. championship game against the winner of Thursday’s 9 a.m. game between top seed Metlakatla and Petersburg. Wrangell plays a Thursday noon elimination game against Haines.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
