By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Mt. Edgecumbe High Braves dealt a defeat to the Sitka Wolves basketball squad Wednesday night, at Mt. Edgecumbe High.
Edgecumbe won 51-28, though the Braves didn’t solidify their lead until the second half. The Braves’ lead at halftime was 24-19
“The kids played hard, probably the hardest they’ve played all year,” Braves coach Archie Young told the Sentinel following the game.
The Braves’ effort and hard work paid off. The game was the season’s final home game before the Region V Tournament in Juneau, March 10-14.
Edgecumbe’s leading scorers were RJ Alstrom-Bean with 18 points and Leon Toomer with 16. As usual, Toomer scored a number of 3-pointers.
In contrast, Sitka’s top scorers were Gavin Flores and Issa Al Bawwab, both with 7 points.
Looking forward to the regional match-up, Sitka High Wolves’ coach Jarrett Hirai said “we have got to prepare mentally. We have got to prepare for everything. We did not play very good tonight.”
Sitka’s quarterly scores fell into the single digits after the half.
“We need to work on both sides of the fort,” Hirai said. “But mental preparation is something that we are lacking, and we need to play together. We did not play together very well tonight.”
Hirai was not alone in hoping for last minute improvements before the end of the season, however.
“Like every year, the focus is just that we could execute better, we could be better defensively, we could box out better,” Young said.
The Braves’ coach hopes his team will use the next few days of practice “to be as good as we can be next week.”
The regular basketball season is now over, with only tournament games remaining. There are only two 3A teams in Southeast Alaska, both in Sitka. The winner of the Region V match-up heads to the state tournament in Anchorage, March 26-29.
