LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Sitka Schools Ready For Hoops Season
By Abigail Bliss
Sentinel Staff Writer
With basketball season right around the corner, teams at Mt. Edgecumbe High School and Sitka High School are getting in shape for their first games. Coaches of the boys and girls teams at both schools recently previewed their teams’ strengths, stars, and stiffest competition this season.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School Girls Basketball Coach Kathy Forrester gives pointers to freshman Sherilyn Johnson-Edwards during a practice Tuesday at MEHS. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Sitka High School Girls
Head Coach Sondra Lundvick, who has been heading up the girls’ squad at SHS for four years, is already impressed with the level of comraderie among this year’s group of girls. Her players are gelling as a team, she reported, and now need to turn their attention to getting into game shape for the start of the season.
“We’ve got a good nucleus of returning players,” she said. “We need to get in shape. It’s really early. It’s just the initial work on getting kids where they need to be.”
The Wolves anticipate facing stiff competition throughout the season, starting with Houston, Ketchikan and Bethel at the upcoming Holland America Holiday Tournament, Dec. 14 through Dec. 16.
“We have a really strong schedule,” Lundvick said. “We’re going to try to play the best people that we can and hopefully get things together for the end.”
Lundvick also has Barrow and Kotzebue on her radar, dubbing them “some of the top teams in the state.” The SHS girls will square off against both teams in January.
She predicted that two seniors, Tatum Bayne and Marlis Boord, would be “big keys to the season.”
Sitka High School Boys
Head Coach Scott Jones began his coaching career while he was a student at Sitka High. For his senior project, he said, he helped coach eighth-grade basketball at Blatchley Middle School. He played basketball at the collegiate level before returning to Sitka, where he coached the JV team for three years and the junior high team for nine years before stepping into the varsity coach role.
He said his team is a close-knit group whose strength stems from a shared history and combined effort.
“As a group, they pretty much stick together,” he said. “They’ve known each other for a while. We started early in the summer with open gyms, and they all have been committed to those.”
His players rely on and support each other, he explained, meaning there are no stand-out stars, just equal responsibility and opportunity for everyone on the court.
“It’s a team effort,” he said. “We’re not relying on one guy to do everything.”
Jones predicted that Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Barrow, and Anchorage Christian will offer tough competition. The Wolves will kick off the season with games against Houston, Nikiski and Bethel at the Holland America Holiday Tournament on Dec. 14 through Dec. 16.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School Girls
As the MEHS girls head into the 2017 season, they’re doing so under the guidance of a new coach, Kathy Forrester. Originally from Ketchikan, Forrester grew up playing basketball in Region V and remembers traveling to Sitka as one of the highlights of each season.
“I always loved Sitka,” she said. “I thought it was the most beautiful city in Southeast, and very family friendly.”
She coached middle school and youth basketball in Ketchikan before moving to Sitka in 2004. She has previously coached the Sitka High School girls varsity team and continues to offer her expertise to the Blatchley Middle School basketball program in the fall.
As her first year coaching the MEHS girls varsity team gets under way, Forrester expressed gratitude for her players’ support of both their teammates and new coach.
“I think I have a great group of girls this year,” she said. “They’re positive with each other and very supportive of me.”
So, too, she thanked the MEHS staff for their assistance as she settles into her new role, singling out the office staff, Andrew Friske and Lieudell Goldsberry for their support during the transition.
Forrester said that the height of some of her players, as well as a sizable contingent of returners, might give her team the edge over some of its opponents.
“We have a little bit of height this year and seven returners,” she said. “I also have a JV player that I brought up that I think will be spectacular.”
Forrester expressed concern, however, that her players’ packed schedules might make it difficult to maintain a full roster throughout the season; with some girls still wrapping up the wrestling season and others setting their sights on additional courses this spring, there is no shortage of activities pulling her players in different directions.
With the reigning champions from Anchorage Christian bringing an unchanged roster to the 2017-2018 season, she anticipates a tough match against the all-star squad.
Forrester also said that MEHS’ three regular season games against Sitka High School on Jan. 30, Feb. 6, and Feb. 27 loom large on the horizon.
“I say that because my daughter plays over there,” she explained. “We kind of just agreed that I’ll do my job the best I can, and she’ll do her job the best she can, and may the best team win.”
“There’s no easy road to winning Southeast around here,” she added.
Forrester emphasized that each girl offers valuable skills to the team, and identified Daisy Hunt, Paige Goodwin, Sanora Bell, and Tyra Brown, in particular, as players who would assume key roles this season.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School Boys
Coach Archie Young is settling into his 19th year coaching basketball at MEHS, a community that compelled him to stay in Sitka a decade longer than he originally intended.
“I came here, in my mind, for four to five years,” he said. “But I fell in love with the school, and what it represents, and here I am.”
His appreciation for the Braves community informs his approach to the season, which he said hinges on hard work in both the classroom and the gym.
“If we do all the things off the court and in the classroom, I think we could become a pretty good team by the end of the season,” he said.
This year, the Braves’ strength lies in the variety of complementary talents represented on the team roster. Young believes that his players offer a range of experience and skill that will serve them well throughout the season.
“I believe we will have a balance of kids who can do multiple things on the floor – guys who can score in different ways and guys who can defend different positions,” he said.
The squad is currently composed of six seniors, three juniors and one sophomore.
Young encourages his players to approach each game with the same attitude and work ethic, regardless of their perceptions of the opponent’s aptitude.
“We try to go into every game with the same mentality of compete’ and play ‘til the game ends,” he said. “We don’t look at opposing teams as tougher or easier. Each game on our schedule will present its own unique challenges.”
He noted that this is the first year in more than a decade that the Braves have a full schedule for the season.
“I’m excited to see that we will play so many games this year,” he said.
The Braves will begin their full season by taking on Nikiski High School on Dec. 13.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.