Daily Sitka Sentinel

Lady Wolves Recognize Seniors, Face Kayhi

By GARLAND KENNEDY

Sentinel Sports Editor

With a whirlwind basketball season coming to a close this month, the Sitka High Lady Wolves honored their seniors during a game against the Ketchikan Lady Kings, Saturday night at Sitka High. The two teams met twice over the weekend, with Kayhi claiming wins both times: 46-39 on Friday and 39-27 Saturday.

The trio of seniors on the Lady Wolves squad – Rean Famini, Makenna Smith, and Jocelyn Brady – received honors in front of the crowd before the start of the game on Saturday.

Looking back on a chaotic and unpredictable season, Famini told the Sentinel she was happy for the opportunity to play basketball.

“I’m glad we got a season – we didn’t expect to have one,” Famini said following Saturday’s game.

Her teammate Jocelyn Brady noted that coming into the season, she had hoped the team would improve with time.

“I feel like our expectations were just to grow as a team and get better each week and each game, and I feel like we have done that this season,” Brady said.

Like Famini, Brady was happy to be back on the court.

“Just that we are playing – here playing – is pretty big,” Brady said.

For Smith, the season boiled down to playing hard.

“Our expectations were definitely to play hard each game, and we have definitely fought each game,” she said.

Despite the positives of being able to play basketball under difficult circumstances, the three seniors were candid about what the pandemic took away from the season.

Local basketball culture hinges on travel and school-level camaraderie, aspects difficult to maintain during the pandemic, Smith said.

“It’s extremely disappointing. To say it’s disappointing is absolutely an understatement .... The overall culture of basketball in Southeast is just shot. There’s no student section, pep club, and Region V is one of the funnest weekends of the year. It’s not going to be the same at all,” Smith said. In an effort to limit spread of the coronavirus, crowds at games are kept small. And while the pep band – dominated by percussion and string instruments – has been present at a number of home games, the atmosphere lacks the electricity of a traditional season complete with a full, roaring crowd and blaring music.

Famini regrets the loss of a traditional season for younger players.

“I’m sad that our lower classmen couldn’t experience that. They would have enjoyed it and had a great time ... It’s kind of disappointing, but we worked through it,” she said.

Brady noted that virus restrictions dramatically shortened the basketball season.

“So lame ... I feel like not having a full season was pretty rough. We got cut back two months, or a month and a half,” Brady said. The short season led to a compressed game schedule, often with teams playing five nights each week.

Lady Wolves coach Mindy Bartolaba was happy for the chance to honor her seniors as the season draws near to the end.

“It was nice to honor them ... their families have been with them on this journey since they were kindergartners. And earlier this season they didn’t even know if they were going to have a senior year. These kids have been going with the flow this entire season, from mask mandates to hand sanitizing to sanitizing equipment every 15 minutes. These kids have been so flexible and playing every game like it’s an opportunity, just being grateful to be out there. And they’re having fun doing it,” Bartolaba said after Saturday’s game.

Beyond the seniors’ celebration, the Sitka and Kayhi teams locked horns in a pair of fast-paced games. In both games, the Lady Kings came out of the gate at high speed and earned a first-quarter lead which they maintained through the remainder of the matches.

On Friday, four three-point baskets propelled the Kings to a 12-3 lead in the first. Kayhi led 12-1 in the first quarter on Saturday.

But the Lady Wolves picked up the pace in both cases and stayed neck and neck with Ketchikan in the following quarters. By the half on Friday, Kayhi led 21-14, and in the fourth quarter, a rapid series of baskets by Tawny Smith and Makenna Smith narrowed the Lady Kings’ lead to only 3 points, but it wasn’t enough to unseat the 4A powerhouse.

Tawny Smith recalled the moment when Ketchikan’s lead was slim.

“We did what we needed to do to get some momentum going and I think scoring those 2 points was really reassuring. Everyone gets so hyped and everyone has pep in their step again,” she said on Friday.

Given the tight scores in the first game, she added that small errors accumulated.

“Definitely just our little mistakes, our little attacking mistakes and on defense, like turning our head and losing our player, not boxing out high on the three-point shots,” she said.

Kayhi coach Kelly Smith noted that with injuries he was down to only a dozen players on varsity and JV combined.

“They gave us two trips, one to Juneau where we played four games in four days and one to Sitka where we played four games into four days. We’re down to 12 girls total trying to play JV and varsity, so we’re a little beat up,” he said after his team’s win on Friday. Kayhi won four consecutive games last week, two against Sitka and two against Mt. Edgecumbe.

He praised his team’s effort on the court.

“They’re just playing hard,” he said.

In the second match, Ketchikan led 19-8 at the half and stretched the lead in the third, pushing beyond Sitka’s ability to recover.

Bartolaba highlighted the first quarter of both games.

“That first quarter killed us both nights,” the coach said.

Despite the losses, she was happy for the chance to play against Ketchikan.

“I’m just glad we had it – this series with Ketchikan. It was a good competition for us, even though it didn’t fall our way. The girls worked hard for two games and we were able to take some stuff away to work on next week,” she said.

As the pandemic basketball season comes to its conclusion, the Lady Wolves face their cross-bridge rivals, the Lady Braves, this Wednesday at Mt. Edgecumbe High. The schedule is below.