Sitka falls to Nome in third/fifth-place state game
- Klas Stolpe
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Wolves give it all in season finale against Nanooks at March Madness tournament
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
One game does not define a season and for the Sitka Wolves it was an unceremonious 73-55 loss to the Nome Nanooks on Saturday, March 21 in the third/fifth-place game at the March Madness Alaska AA State Basketball Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.
“It is about the whole body of work,” Sitka coach Steve Compagno said. “I am proud of our team. We played a really, really tough schedule and hung in there. Nome is a state championship team out there. They were not going to go away. They didn’t win four out of the last five titles by giving up or taking it easy when the game didn’t really matter. We just didn’t match their intensity today. We had beaten them twice this season so they weren’t too happy about that. They made some adjustments and they have a good team. They are very well coached.”
Sitka finishes their season 18-12 and Nome 21-9. Sitka had toppled Nome 55-45 and 57-40 on Feb. 19 and 21 in Sitka. Last year Sitka (23-4) fell to Nome (25-2) in the state championship game 62-43. In 2024 Nome (24-4) defeated Mt. Edgecumbe 63-61 for the state title and in 2023 Nome (24-3) lost 64-33 to Grace Christian in the state final and in 2022 Nome (20-7) defeated Grace 49-47 for the title.
“I came in three years ago when our seniors were sophomores,” Compagno said. “Watching them grow and develop has been amazing. We have won a lot of games there and taken a program, and they trusted me, and we have had three pretty successful seasons.”
Saturday was a game of two halves.
Sitka took a 7-5 lead off two baskets by junior Colton McGraw, one from senior Brett Ross and a free throw by freshman Koen Hirai. Nome had scores from 6’4” junior Stanley Booth inside and junior Lane Schuerch from the arc.
Nome would close the stanza on a 10-5 run to lead 15-12. The Nanooks points came from senior Peyton Weyiouanna on a fast break and a series of follows and free throws by Schuerch. Sitka had a shot from the arc by Koen Hirai and a follow by Johnson.
The Wolves defense, led by seniors Kai Hirai, Brett Ross and Koen Hirai along the front pressed and hounded Nome throughout. It has been the way basketball has been played by the Wolves since their youth.
“Words cannot even describe how much my high school career for basketball has been,” Sitka senior Kai Harai said. “I spent lots of time in the gym. It is kind of like my alone time. Just getting shots up. There is nothing better. Just countless hours spending time in the gym, even with my brother and my dad. My dad is a P.E. teacher, so I spent a lot of time in the gym, I, like grew up in there. And then with Koen, my brother, it has just been amazing. I never had the opportunity to play with him until this season because I am three years older than him. Every school it is like, well, Baranof Ballers I was a fifth grader and he was in second grade, and then I didn’t get to see him at Blathchley Middle School and now in high school I am a senior and he’s a freshman. So this was the last little chance and I kept pushing on him, pushing on him, ‘hey, work on this, do this..’ I told him, ‘The only reason I am pushing you is I really want to play with you.’ And now it is my senior year and it has been so great, yeah.”
Harai will pursue a career in Athletic Training at the University of Nevada Reno, a goal inspired by Sitka’s Carolyn Black, a certified athletic trainer specializing in sports medicine and biomechanical kinesiology with Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) who helps with the Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe High Schools.
Sitka and Nome would continue to exchange basket for basket through the second quarter and the three-point deficit was dropped to one when McGraw hit from the arc to pull to 24-23 with under three minutes left in the half. Nome’s Booth answered from the arc to lead 27-23. Nome junior Levi Pederson and senior Kendall Ulroan closed out the half from inside and outside, respectively, the arc. Sitka’s Johnson and Koen Hirai hit to trail 32-27 at the break.
Nome opened the third quarter on an 18-5 run and led 50-32 with under two minutes to play in the stanza. The Nanooks led 53-36 starting the fourth quarter.
“Basketball has meant a lot,” Sitka senior Brett Ross said. “It has been a big part of my life for at least the past 10 years. We have been playing since second grade, playing in the Ballers’ leagues and stuff like that. Definitely will be missing a piece of my life, but it has been great. I have a bigger family than I ever had… Basketball in southeast is so much different because of all the trips, you have to leave for the whole weekend and go on a whole trip, you have to get on a plane or ferry, stay in hotel rooms together. It is a different experience not many kids get to experience, but it makes it all that much better.”
Sitka picked up their effort to match Nome in the final quarter with the bench providing high output minutes. Wolves junior Kenneth Helem would score all nine of his game points in the stanza. Tincher and Johnson hit from the arc and senior Justin Kitka closed out his career with a score inside.
Nome would outscore Sitka 20-19 in the quarter for the 73-55 win. Even that loss meant a lot to freshman Koen Hirai who credits the Wolves for his first varsity season.
“It means a lot to me,” Sitka freshman Koen Hirai said. “It has been a big change for me from middle school and little rec leagues and A.A.U. to being a freshman. But it has been a big change and a fun season to be able to play with my brother.”
Of the many lessons Koen Hirai will take away from this season, with six seniors and five juniors, he said, “A lot. Just the way they treated me and how I am going to treat others is the biggest thing.”
It has meant a lot to senior Johnson as well. He quit baseball to focus 100 percent on basketball. He has traveled with AAU to California all of July.
“It has meant a lot,” Sitka senior Trey Johnson said. “I wanted to focus on basketball more. I pretty much have been playing basketball. I have been on varsity for four years. This team, I still think we could have definitely won state, but it just didn’t happen. This team means a lot to me. It is probably the most put together team I have been on throughout my time at Sitka. Coach Compagno has turned around the program for sure.”
Johnson will return to Anchorage in April for all-star games and then will play in California until the commercial fishing season starts. He seines aboard the F/V Perseverance for herring and salmon in Southeast, fishes squid in California and crabs in Glacier Bay
“I think I am going to take a gap year and do all commercial fishing,” Johnson said. “And then go to school. I will probably go for refrigeration and diesel mechanics because I like that kind of stuff and I am pretty good at it. And then see if I want to play basketball or not. I’m still figuring it out.”
Johnson led Sitka with 21 points, juniors Colton McGraw and Kenneth Helem and freshman Koen Hirai nine each, senior Shane Tincher three, seniors Brett Ross and Justin Kitka two apiece. Harai scored four points in the first quarter, Johnson 10 in the second quarter, Hirai three in the third and Helem all of his nine in the final stanza. The Wolves made four three-point shots, 18 closer in and 7-10 from the free throw line. Their 15 fouls were split among nine players with Johnson and Koen Hirai earning three apiece. Sitka places fifth in the tournament.
Nome led 15-12 after eight minutes, 32-27 at the half and 53-36 after three quarters.
Junior Stanley Booth led Nome with 17 points, junior Lane Schuerch 14, senior Kendall Ulroan 11, senior Peyton Weyiaouanna 10, junior Levi Pederson eight, sophomore Kevin Ongtowasruk six, sophomore Gabriel Tran four and senior E.J. Kone three. Schuerch scored eight points in the first quarter, Booth five in the second and eight in the third, and Ulroan five in the fourth. The Nanooks made seven three-point shots, 20 closer in and 12-18 at the line. Their 14 fouls were spread among 10 players with Schuerch earning three. Nome places third in the tournament.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
