Daily Sitka Sentinel

Vikings Rally Past Wolves 56-51

By Sentinel Staff
    A 24-point fourth quarter was enough for Petersburg to rally past the Sitka girls basketball team Thursday night at Sitka High School.

Tatum Bayne drives to the hoop. (Sentinel Photo)

    Sitka led by 11 points with 6:33 to play in the fourth quarter, but Petersburg’s Kylie Wallace scored 16 points in the final period for the 56-51 comeback win over the Wolves.
    Wallace led all scorers with 31 points in a back-and-forth contest that started with Petersburg jumping out to a 13-6 lead in the first quarter. The Vikings would stretch their lead out to 11 in the second quarter before Tatum Bayne scored 5 straight points to cut the lead to 6 points with 5:22 to play.
    Sitka got their first lead of the game near the end of the first half. Senior guard Sid Riggs didn’t score for the first 13 minutes and 45 seconds of the game but in the span of 35 seconds she scored 7 points to put Sitka on top 22-20 heading into halftime. Riggs finished with a team-high 20 points despite the slow start.
    The teams traded baskets in the third quarter and were separated by only 2 points when Riggs went to the free throw line with 10.2 seconds to play in the third quarter. Riggs hit one of two shots. Her missed free throw was rebounded by Petersburg’s Wallace who ran up the right sideline for a chance at a final shot. Riggs ran her down, stole the ball near midcourt and drove back the other way for a fall away layup that found the bottom of the net as the buzzer sounded giving the Wolves a 5-point lead heading into the final quarter.
    Riggs continued the output at the start of the fourth quarter. On Petersburg’s opening possession, Sitka junior Hailey Denkinger rebounded a missed shot, ran the floor and kicked to Riggs for an open 3-pointer. Riggs hit another three a minute later off an inbounds play that put the Wolves up 43-32 before momentum swung back to the Vikings.
    A 10-2 run brought Petersburg within 3 in just over a minute of play. Wallace scored 8 points in the run and eventually got the lead back for Petersburg with under three minutes to play.
    Sitka answered when Riggs drove down the floor on a fast break and dished the ball between two defenders for an open layup by Zosha Krupa that put Sitka back up 51-50.
    It was the last basket of the game for Sitka with 2:36 seconds to play. Meanwhile Petersburg scored 6 more points, mostly from the free throw line, to take their first win on this trip to the outside passage.
    Wallace’s 31 points led the way followed by 11 points from Ruby Brock – 9 of which came on 3-pointers. Shalie Dahl scored 6 points and Emma Chase and Adanna Kvernvik each scored 4 points.
    Bayne was second in scoring with 9 points for the Wolves. Kalene Koelling and Denkinger each scored 6 points, Krupa and Ellie Cagle scored 4 points each and Kyla Young scored 2 points.
    Everyone in 3A Region V has played each other once, now, and each team is 1-1. The Wolves beat Mt. Edgecumbe but have now lost to Petersburg. The Vikings got the win over Sitka Thursday night after losing to Mt. Edgecumbe Wednesday night.
    By the time the weekend is over Petersburg will have played each Sitka-based team one more time. The Vikings are back on Japonski tonight for a second game against Mt. Edgecumbe. The Braves took the first matchup by 9 points.
    Sitka will wrap up the weekend Saturday with a tip time of 7:30 p.m. Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe will play again next Tuesday, which will mark the halfway point of the conference schedule. The top conference record gets a bye in the first round of the March Regional Tournament.