Poked Bears stir up trouble in Ketchikan
- Klas Stolpe
- 13 hours ago
- 15 min read
JDHS responds to Friday loss with Saturday feast of Lady Kings
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The old adage "don’t poke the bear" proved to be true on Saturday as the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls basketball team responded to a 48-37 loss Friday at Ketchikan by disposing of the Lady Kings 51-41 on Saturday.
The biggest bear poked was Crimson Bears 5’6” junior guard Layla Tokuoka who scored a career-high 33 points and proved to be the king of the Tongass Rainforest.
“If I’m being honest I was not keeping track of stats during the game and I was just playing as hard as I could,” JDHS’ Tokuoka said. “Of course there are things to work on, but given my time in the game I flipped a switch from yesterday and just played with confidence today.”
Tokuoka grabbed the first rebound of the night. An aggressive gesture that would set the tone for 32 minutes of Crimson Bears play across the roster.
“I felt like I didn’t play like I know I could have yesterday,” Tokuoka, who had just four points and no field goals on Friday, said. “I felt flustered from the very beginning yesterday, but moving into the game today I just was ready to play and gave it my all for the 32 minutes we were given.”
Kayhi sophomore Payton Nickich teased the bear early, hitting from past the arc for the games first points, but JDHS sophomore Sadie Lockhart hit two free throws and Tokuoka blocked a shot to remind the hosts the game would be different from 24 hours earlier.
“We needed this game,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “And Layla had an incredible game. She wasn’t going to let yesterday’s game happen again. Just seeing her determination first thing this morning I knew it would not happen again. She had this look. I didn’t even need to say anything. I was like, ‘you’re ready?’ And just her look, oh yeah.”
Kayhi freshman Addison Secrest was fouled on a made basket and hit the free throw for a 6-2 lead, but JDHS senior Cambry Lockhart answered to pull to 6-4.
Tokuoka would block her second shot of the quarter and steal Kayhi’s next possession as well, which resulted in sophomore Athena Warr following a shot, being fouled, and making a free throw to pull to 6-5.
Kayhi would get a second shot past the arc from Nickich, and a third, but Tokuoka kept pace with three free throws. The Lady Kings would have a 15-8 lead after eight minutes as JDHS missed seven shots in a row at the end of the first stanza.
Kayhi senior Kylie Brendible hit a shot from the arc to start the second quarter, but JDHS’ Tokuoka answered with a drive and then a steal and another score to pull to 18-12.
JDHS had fallen into a 3-2 zone defense and it would be the difference in the game as the roster of Crimson Bears that came into the game through the night looked comfortable across the key.
“We started in man, at least part of the first quarter,” JDHS coach Nizich said. “We switched over quickly because we kind of got into foul trouble yesterday and we wanted to maintain a little bit, and we got a little more help on the zone, rotating over and helping on their drives from the top. We look comfortable in a zone, but it is good to go back and forth, it’s good to be comfortable in both.”
JDHS sophomore Athena Warr began to make her presence felt inside, blocking a shot and pulling down her fifth rebound of the game.
Tokuoka hit from the arc to answer a fast break by Kayhi’s Nickich and hit two free throws to answer Kayhi’s Brendbile, and JDHS pulled to 22-19 with under three minutes left in the half.
Two more Tokuoka free throws pulled JDHS to 22-21 and, when Kayhi sophomore Lorraine Zapanta hit from the arc, Tokuoka answered the bell again with a sweet jump shot three feet past the arc to close to 25-24, and JDHS senior Cambry Lockhart pulled down a key defensive rebound as time expired in the first half.
Kayhi’s full-court press was not as effective as the previous night, with JDHS
“Even in our shoot-around today we worked for a long time on the trapping they had on the press,” JDHS coach Nizich said. “Just how to stay calm through it and move their defense, try to dictate their rotation. We did get caught in the backcourt a few times with the 10-second clock, but I don’t think it bothered us as much as it did yesterday... We told the team there was lava in the corners so stay away from the sides.”
JDHS would have a reaction for each Kayhi action when play resumed in the second half.
Kayhi’s Secrest hit from the arc and JDHS’ Tokuoka hit from two feet farther out.
The JDHS aggression on offense would earn a fourth foul on Kayhi sophomore Claire Ruaro with 5:05 left in the stanza. Ruaro had been hampered with three fouls in the first quarter and limited duty on the floor.
Secrest hit again from distance and after a JDHS miss C. Lockhart blocked a shot. The ball returned to the Lady Kings, but freshman Blythe Lockhart earned a steal and Tokuoka scored on a rebound to pull to 31-29.
A rebound by JDHS’ Warr led to a drive by C. Lockhart who earned two free throws to tie the score at 31-31.
C. Lockhart would steal Kayhi’s next possession and pass to Tokuoka who scored for JDHS’ first lead of the game at 33-31.
Kayhi’s Nickich hit her fourth shot from the arc to regain the lead 34-33, but JDHS’ B. Lockhart would follow a Crimson Bears missed shot to score for the 35-34 lead as the third quarter expired.
Warr grabbed her 11th rebound of the game as the fourth quarter started, and Tokuoka was fouled on a scoring shot and added the free throw for a 38-34 lead.
The JDHS zone continued to be the difference, and at one point the three Lockhart’s, Cambry, Sadie and Blythe were stretched across the top causing mischief and forcing a Kayhi timeout.
“Our zone defense has improved a lot, and with communication and focus I think we executed well,” JDHS’ C. Lockhart said. “It is so fun to be on a team with my sister and cousin. We are really close, and I couldn’t ask for better girls and teammates to support me on and off the court. I am so blessed to have them as my family, and it’s even better to play and compete with them.”
With 6:11 left to play in the fourth quarter Kayhi’s Ruaro scored her first basket of the game to pull the Lady Kings to 38-37, but shortly after she would be lost from the game with her fifth foul.
Tokuoka would hit a shot for 40-37 and then answer two free throws by Kayhi’s Brendible with two of her own for a 42-39 lead.
C. Lockhart hit from the arc for a 45-39 lead and, after Kayhi’s Brendible hit one free throw and missed the next, Tokuoka rebounded and fed Warr who was fouled on a scoring shot inside. She added the free throw for a 48-40 lead with 2:20 left in the game.
C. Lockhart would rebound a missed Kayhi shot and feed Tokuoka for her 33rd point of the game with 1:15 remaining to play.
Kayhi’s Seacrest would hit one of two free throws for the Lady Kings final point and B. Lockhart did the same for the 51-41 win.
“I am extremely proud of us and the way we fought through this weekend,” JDHS’ C. Lockhart said. “We got past the first game and worked hard to make improvements. I believe that we had an unlucky first game. A lot of shots that we normally make were not falling, our defense didn’t step up and help, and we just struggled. But I think that is what makes us better and every team is going to have a bad game. I am excited for the next conference games and I am confident in my team that we will do what it takes to play thorough basketball on offense and defense.”
Tokuoka led JDHS with 33 points, six rebounds, four steals, three deflections and two blocked shots. C. Lockhart added seven points, three assists, three rebounds and a steal. Warr added six points and commanded the key with 13 rebounds, three assists, one blocked shot and three altered shots. B. Lockhart scored three points, had three steals, three rebounds and one assist, and S. Lockhart had two points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Raynona Fraker had three rebounds, classmate Kyndal Saceda two rebounds, and classmate Freyja Shelton-Walker two rebounds and one blocked shot.
“We share the ball very well,” JDHS coach Nizich said. “Sometimes we share it too much and that is OK, it just opens up a clear lane for somebody. We are doing a better job of taking what is given to us versus forcing something. The whole team contributed tonight. Athena on the boards tonight is just big for us. We need that primary job from her, and she saw she can do that tonight and she can be confident kicking the ball out to our guards…In general we had a lot more activity down low, we got the ball inside. We had that inside-outside game with Freyja and Athena being more active posting up it gave our guards more freedom."
"Blythe is just a spark plug for us, she is not afraid of anything and is comfortable bringing the ball up and knowing her role…And Sadie played aggressive, and Cambry really controlled the tempo for us on offense, you can’t get much better than having three Lockhart’s.”
JDHS hit 17-20 from the charity stripe, Kayhi 6-17. The Crimson Bears had 14 turnovers, the Lady Kings 12.
Nickich led Kayhi with 16 points (1 steal, 1 assist), Secrest 10 points (2 assists), Brendible nine (10 rebounds, four assists), and Zapanta and Ruaro three points apiece.
“Putting the time we have on the court to play, in perspective, is the one thing that got me through the game today,” JDHS’ Tokuoka said. “Also the encouragement of the bench and our JV team really got us going. The energy really kept our momentum going throughout the game and I am so very happy we came out with the win, but I know that our next four games are not going to be easy and we need to keep on improving as we go.”
The JDHS JV defeated Kayhi JV 39-33 on Friday and 47-45 Saturday. Friday - JD JV - So. Lydia Goins 12, So. Shaundiin Frommherz 10, Fr. Bela Pyare 6, B.Lockhart 4, So. Aurelia Field 4, Jr. Keirstin Johnson 1; KTN JV - Zapanta 9, Ella Guthrie 9, Schulz 5, Evelyn Robbins 4, Jan Ramsey 4, Jane Tibley 2; Saturday - JDHS JV - B. Lockhart 21, Pyare 7, Goins 6, Sofia Contreas 6, Field 4, Frommherz 3; KTN JV - Zapanta 16, Guthrie 13, Jan Ramsey 9, Sophia Schultz 5, June Ripley 2.
JDHS’ Friday varsity loss was the first to Kayhi for the girls since 2023.
Last season JDHS was 20-8 overall and 4-0 in conference, but swept Kayhi in all six meetings by scores of 58-27 and 67-28 at KTN, 52-23 and 51-23 at home, and 64-36 and 69-43 at regions. JDHS defeated Bartlett 49-44 at state, lost to Colony 56-34 and lost to Mountain City Christian Academy 57-37.
In 2024 JDHS, then separate from now-defunct Thunder Mountain High School, defeated KTN 58-37 and 45-40 at home, 59-50 and 44-38 at KTN, and defeated them twice at regions 50-47 and 49-37. JDHS topped TM 42-40 away, lost to TM 4-28 at home, lost 49-35 at TM and lost 44-41 at home, and lost to TM twice at regions 54-35 and 56-49.
TMHS defeated KTN that season 60-54 and 60-33 away, 55-48 and 52-33 home. TMHS finished 23-5 overall and 7-1 in conference. The Lady Falcons defeated Dimond 58-47 to open state play and then fell to Colony 69-35 and Mt. City Christian Academy 52-37.
In 2023 JDHS defeated KTN 40-33 and 36-30 on the road, lost to TM 43-41 home and 37-36 away, lost to KTN 47-31 at home and won 43-29, lost to TM 47-42 away and 58-45 at home, defeated KTN 26-24 at regions, lost to TM 47-39 at regions, defeated KTN 47-28 at regions and lost to TM 43-35 at regions. That season TMHS finished 20-9 overall and 6-2 in conference. The Lady Falcons at home defeated KTN 57-48 and lost 43-40, and lost 43-35 and won 60-38 away. At state, JDHS lost to Colony 53-46, defeated Lathrop 50-42 and topped TMHS 53-48. TMHS had opened state play with a 54-50 loss to West Anchorage and defeated Dimond 53-47 before facing JDHS.
JDHS will host the 3A Sitka Lady Wolves inside the George Houston Gymnasium for the Crimson Bears homecoming series at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, followed by the JDHS boys facing the Sitka Wolves in the nightcap games.
“We just have to understand that we are going to get pressured,” JDHS coach Nizich said. “Especially by Ketchikan. And they did bother us yesterday. We work on full-cour pressure situations routinely in practice. A big thing for us is executing our plays.”
Sitka went undefeated this weekend.
The Lady Wolves (5-9 overall, 0-0 Southeast Conference) defeated the 3A Redington Lady Huskies (4-9 OA, 0-1 Peninsula Conference) 53-15 on Saturday, and the 3A Houston Lady Hawks (0-11 OA, 0-1 PC) 52-13 Thursday and 59-12 Friday.
“I know that Juneau is a really good team and they are going to give us a good test,” Sitka girls coach Ryan Myer said. But I think we have been really improving the last few weeks and I think that we are going to be able to give them a good game.”
Only one senior and one junior are on the roster.
“I have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who, if on a bigger team, would probably have another year to get ready, but they are starting on varsity,” Myer said.”I’m impressed with their ability to learn what it takes to play at the varsity level as fast as they have. The beginning of our season was a lot of growing pains with girls learning the difference between middle school and varsity. We played a lot of good teams early in the year — Mountain City Christian Academy, Wasilla, Colony, West Anchorage — we have had a very hard schedule, and they haven't hung their heads or felt sorry for themselves, even in games where they've been getting beat on pretty good. They've gone out and given it everything, and it's starting to pay dividends. I'm really excited to come to Juneau and kind of see where we're at as a team. I'm hoping for close competitive games. We haven’t played in Juneau for three years. It’s a different gym and a lot of people will be there. It is a fun environment and one of those things that helps toughen you up.”
On Saturday, the Lady Wolves did not allow more than five points in a quarter from the Lady Hawks. Sitka led 13-2 after eight minutes, 23-7 at the half and 39-11 starting the fourth quarter.
The Lady Wolves were led by 15 points from freshman Kensie Phippen, junior Pennelope Blankenship added 13, senior Ally Mayville and sophomore Kailee Brady six apiece, sophomore Isabella Jones and freshman Addie Marx five apiece, freshman Thea Schumejda two, and freshman Maleah Partido one. Sophomores Evie Rice and Teagan Woodcock, and freshmen Emery Carley and Jolene Bakkes also played. Sitka hit 4-10 from the line, Redington 5-8. Lady Huskies freshman Kaydence Seymore led with five points, sophomore Janessa Gubler and senior Sonia Gericke four apiece, and junior Daisy Cardoso two.
“We have spent a lot of time talking about what our goals are for the game that we're playing, but also what our goals are for the season,” Myer said. “Right now in regions our goal is to make it to state…Every game we play is in service of improving…Sometimes we're disappointed, it sucks to lose, but we talk about like what can we take away that is going to make us better, what we did well to carry forward what we did not so we can achieve that goal…Nobody expects us to beat Colony or Wasilla, but getting to test yourself against girls who are bigger and stronger and faster and more skilled than you makes you realize the level you need to play at. We’ve been able to raise our level of play, but it has not always been fun. Playing against a really good team shows us what we need to get better at.”
The Wolves boys (10-4 OA, 0-0 SEC) defeated the Redington Huskies (5-7 OA, 0-1 Peninsula) 68-28 on Saturday and the Houston Hawks (2-5 OA, 1-0 Peninsula) 64-20 Thursday and 68-24 Friday.
“We have a certain philosophy that we really want to play hard on the defensive end and make teams uncomfortable, and we were able to do that,” Sitka coach Steve Compagno said. “We switch our defenses and want to pressure the ball, make decisions at a high rate of speed. That’s the way we play.
On Saturday, the Wolves led 21-4 after eight minutes, 31-14 at the half and 52-24 starting the fourth quarter. Sitka had 10 shots made past the arc and hit 6-9 at the free throw line. Redington hit 5-11 at the line.
Sitka senior Trey Johnson led the Wolves with 18 points, senior Shane Tincher 12, senior Kai Hirai eight, junior Josh Partido seven, senior Brett Ross five, and juniors Ashton Peterson and Kenny Helem three apiece. Redington senior Natan Fields led the Huskies with eight points, senior Kaeden Saxton and junior James Unfreid six apiece, junior Levi Zydonis four, and junior Cameron Ingraham and senior Jake Murdock two apiece.
Sitka faces conference rival Mt. Edgecumbe on Tuesday and 4A Ketchikan on Thursday before coming to the Capital city on a morning flight Friday.
“Mt. Edgecumbe is our biggest game of the season,” Compagno said. “We’ll think about Juneau when we get on the plane. I’m sure they are a different team than when we played them last time. We’re going to be in their environment, and we have to go on the road and definitely play better than we did when they were here...across the bridge (MEHS) is our priority and Ketchikan we haven’t played this year. Last year we were 11-0 and went there and got beat back-to-back, and that was good for our team. Our chests were puffed out a little too far. They handled us and they are well coached just like Juneau, just like Mt. Edgecumbe so we are going to have to play at a high level in order to compete in those games.”
Compagno said five of the Wolves have played three seasons under his tutelage.
“We had a conversation with them after we lifted after the game and I said ‘Tonight you eat well and get some rest, and tomorrow is an off day and Monday we come into practice,’” he said. “Our practices are not easy, they are very difficult, high intensity, high energy. We run those college practices with individual work, break down stops and then our five-on-five and what we want to accomplish in games… Today we had a walkthrough and went over our game plan for tonight…And they don't want to come to practice dragging so they do take care of themselves…We are hitting this stretch of the season where it is hard. Fortunately this weekend I was able to play everybody all three nights and shut my main guys down halfway to two-thirds of the way through the third quarter and give some guys an opportunity to play. I believe in every guy on this team. They are here for a reason. I will put their feet to the fire and coach them the same way I coach everybody else regardless of the score.”
Across Sitka’s John O’Connell Bridge 3A Mt. Edgecumbe also went undefeated.
The Braves (6-3 OA, 0-0 SEC) topped Houston 79-53 Saturday and Redington 76-59 Thursday and 77-59 Friday.
“We got better each day,” MEHS boys coach Marshall Vest said. “Sitka on Tuesday is very important…We will do some yoga and film tomorrow, hit the reset and focus all our attention on Tuesday’s opponent.”
On Saturday the Braves led 25-11 after eight minutes, 46-20 at the half and 68-34 starting the fourth quarter.
MEHS was led by Guy Goldsberry (Nome) with 25 points, Kaden Herrmann (Koliganek) added 22, Royce Alstrom (Anchorage) and Carlos Sandoval (Hoonah) seven apiece, Elden Andrew (New Stuyahok) three and Korey Ekak (Wainwright) two. The Braves hit 7-10 from the line, the Hawks 4-4. Houston senior Blake Baskett led with 11 points, senior Nate Davies 10, freshman Lincoln Davies nine, senior Elias Johnson and senior Billy Rusher seven apiece, junior Sebastian Sanford and Blade Christianson four apiece.
The Lady Braves (7-2 OA, 0-0 SEC) toppled the Lady Hawks 64-14 Saturday. Redington 70-27 Thursday and 67-8 Friday.
On Saturday, MEHS took control with a 17-3 first quarter, led 34-7 at the half and 53-10 starting the fourth quarter.
Tahira Akaran (Kotlik) led the Lady Braves with 18 points, Gracelynn Friske (Sitka), Evangeline Hank (Pt. Hope) and Macey Langlie (Bethel) nine points each, Ashlynn Lonewolf (Bethel) seven, Halena Slats (Chevak), Shiona Vent (North Pole) and Charity Mila (Barrow) four each. MEHS hit 6-9 from the line, Houston 3-4. Junior Briama Brito led the Lady Hawks with five points, junior TaNea Cook four, senior Danyel Loyd and junior Reese VanWingerden two each, and freshman Karlee Wertman one.
“I thought we made some great progress and had some growth across the entire team,” MEHS girls coach Ryan Gluth said. “Felt like we built some unity and every player seized every minute they had on the floor.”
Gluth said the Lady Braves are excited to face the Lady Wolves on Tuesday.
“We are hosting the first Battle of the Bridge for the season on Tuesday,” he said. “Looking forward to matching up with Sitka, they have some great teams this year and I believe it will be 32 minutes of thrilling basketball.”
Gluth noted that playing multiple games in a short time is conducive for the region tournament.
“It is a great test,” he said. “I think we did well, but could definitely see a little slowing in the third game today. They worked hard all week and we finished well. We have a couple more weeks this month with four games in a week so we will have a chance to get stronger before regionals.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
