Daily Sitka Sentinel

Another Powerhouse Falls to the Lady Wolves

By GARLAND KENNEDY

Sentinel Sports Editor

Sitka High Lady Wolves were struggling after a concerted Juneau counterattack in the third quarter, and the score was tied at the start of the fourth, but the Sitka basketball squad pulled together, pushed back, and notched another narrow win over a 4A powerhouse Friday at Sitka High. And on Saturday, the Lady Wolves kept up the pressure and claimed a second win over Juneau, 38-28.

On Friday, Sitka led over the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears 27-18 at the half, but a strong push by Juneau chipped away at Sitka’s lead until the game was tied at the close of the third. The Lady Wolves didn’t manage to score a single basket in that quarter, and the fourth opened 27-27.

But in the opening minutes of the final quarter, Sitka freshman Maitlin Young made a pair of baskets, giving Sitka a small lead.

Young recalled her mindset as the fourth quarter began.

“Reality probably kicked in, because we were tied and we wanted the game bad so we played good d(efense) and didn’t get turnovers. It was good,” Young told the Sentinel after the game.

She noted that in the third quarter the Wolves struggled to break through their opponent’s press, a signature of every other team Sitka has faced this year.

“We came out a little flat… They were ready to play, they got some turnovers right off the bat. We were ugly trying to break the press and they scored some transition layups off of it,” Young said.

Wolves junior Tawny Smith added that her team came out strong in the first half, as usual, but faltered in the third quarter.

“We came out pretty strong… We worked the ball pretty well. We tend to have pretty good first halves… I don’t think we have the intention of letting up because we talk in the locker room about not letting up, we know third quarters aren’t where we excel,” Smith said. “We have got to come out strong in the third quarter.”

Lady Wolves coach Mindy Bartolaba stressed her team’s need to keep up a solid performance in all four quarters, especially as the season moves into its final month.

“The kids did a really good job stepping up and staying in position, just having that positive mental mindset. Every game they talk about playing for each other and working hard for each other. By our peak we want to be stringing those four quarters together,” Bartolaba said.

Sitka’s performance in the fourth made up for the lackluster third and affirmed the Lady Wolves’ victory.

The final quarter was like a fresh game for Smith.

“We realized it’s crunch time, Maitlin’s shot got some momentum going. We realized it was like the start of the game again, it was 0-0, pretty much an 8-minute game to play,” Smith said.

Following Young’s baskets, the teams locked horns for several minutes, with neither side breaking through the other’s tough defense. 

“Both teams had played really hard defense. When you have two teams scoring under 40 points, you know you have two teams playing really hard defense all game long,” Bartolaba said.

With less than a minute to go, Juneau junior Ashley Laudert drew a foul and sank one basket, but it wasn’t enough.

As the last quarter stretched on and Sitka retained the lead, Smith said that her priorities were simple.

“Protect the ball, just take care of the ball. Don’t turn it over. Don’t turn it over,” she said.

To seal the deal, Smith made two foul shots in just 5.5 seconds left on the clock. For her, it was just like she had practiced.

“It’s definitely a bit of pressure but I think having preparation goes into confidence. And we shoot a lot of free throws in practice and I’ve shot a lot of free throws out of practice. So just going to the line with confidence- and obviously you know the pressure is there- but just thinking about it as a practice shot… is the biggest thing,” Smith recounted.

Young described Smith’s game-sealing foul shots in one word: “Clutch!”

For Smith’s coach, there was never any doubt.

“She’s got them,” Bartolaba recalled thinking in the moment. “I have confidence in her. She’s got them.”

The fourth quarter of the Sitka-Juneau was deja vu all over again, mirroring the Lady Wolves’ victory over Thunder Mountain three weeks ago. In that low-scoring game, Sitka was down by two as the fourth began but broke the stalemate with a couple of well-placed shots, clinching a 4-point win over a 4A team. But unlike in the Thunder Mountain game, Sitka pulled off Friday’s win without Chloe Morrison, one of their top players, currently sidelined by injury.

Faced with the challenge of Sitka’s tough and deliberate team, Juneau-Douglas coach Steve Potter said that finding a counter was difficult.

“We played a little better in the third quarter than we did in the rest of the game. We’ve been starting slow all year and Sitka is very deliberate and they have a definite pattern to do what they do, and it took us a while to figure out how to disrupt it,” Potter said following the game.

The teams played in the loudest game of the season so far, with Sitka High’s pep band and cheer squad accompanied by a significant complement of fans.

All present, players included, wore masks and underwent health screening prior to entry.

On Saturday, the Lady Wolves came out of the gate strong, with 9 points by Jocelyn Brady alone in the first quarter. At the half, Sitka led 17-13, but in a reversal from Friday, Sitka stretched their lead in the third with a number of baskets from Tawny Smith, Makenna Smith, Nai’a Nelson, and Jocelyn Brady. While the Crimson Bears narrowed Sitka’s lead in the fourth, it was not enough to keep Sitka from another win.

Local basketball players play again this week. The schedule is below.