By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
A made basket still counts even if the flight of the ball isn’t pretty.
Mt. Edgecumbe junior Maggie Miller’s form was perfect as she toed the line for two free throws with the score tied 39-39 in the opening Region V 3A girls tournament game against Sitka, but her first shot went hard and long.
“I think I felt the pressure a little bit,” Miller, from Nome, said.
Her second shot went harder and farther, but it hit the backboard square perfectly and went through for a 40-39 score with less than a second remaining, as if she planned it.
“I might have, I’m not quite sure,” Miller said. “I have just been practicing a lot. I’m really thankful for my coaches because that has been one of my goals, to get my free throw percentage up.”
The made free throw gave the Lady Braves the first win of their best-of-three series against the Lady Wolves for the Region V 3A Championship, and it took a full roster to accomplish.
Nine different Lady Braves checked into the first quarter and six found a way to deposit the rock in a safe netting for storage, and 14 points.
Eight Lady Wolves also entered the fray. Sitka senior Joei Vidad gave Sitka the first score of the game at 2-0 and classmate Abby Forrester answered a free throw by Mt. Edgecumbe senior Brystel Charlie and a rebound score by junior Vernae Ramoth (Ambler), with the same, to give Sitka their last lead of the game at 5-3 with just under six minutes remaining in the stanza. The Lady Wolves would not score again in the quarter but Forrester would force her rivals, coached by her mother, to commit a bevy of fouls.
“That Forrester girl,” Mt. Edgecumbe coach Kathy Forrester said, of her daughter. “She, and Sitka, attack the basket in between two of my players and usually one of them gets called for a foul. I can’t stress enough the fact we need to stay low and move our feet.”
Mt. Edgecumbe countered effectively with their press and Bell had a steal for a score, Charlie two steals that led to baskets by senior Tyra Brown (Chevak) and Miller and scored one herself, and senior Catherine Sunny (Nightmute) buried a shot from beyond the arch for the 14-5 advantage.
Sitka also played to their team pressure and attacking strengths to work back into the game. Sophomore Jocelyn Brady scored to open the second quarter, then answered a score by Mt. Edgecumbe sophomore Autumn Beans (St. Mary’s) by making a basket and drawing the third foul on the Lady Braves’ Miller.
Beans would answer the call again and Bell scored off a Sitka turnover for a 20-10 advantage with under six minutes left in the stanza. Bell would be hit with her third foul on the next play and sent to the bench to join Miller.
“It’s a lot of pressure to play under foul trouble,” Bell said. “That is something I have been trying to work on. I feel like I have to limit myself when I play because being out of the game with 5 fouls isn’t really an option.”
Sitka closed the score to 20-14 at the half.
The Lady Braves would be whistled for 23 fouls in the game, and Sitka 11.
Bell was whistled for her fourth foul just seconds after hitting the opening basket of the third quarter. Senior Faith Kameroff (Emmonak), three fouls of her own, and Ashlyn Strom (Ft. Yukon) were key in filling in throughout the game as the fouls mounted.
Charlie, the most active player on the Mt. Edgecumbe press, played the entire game and had just two infractions. Another Charlie steal for a layup put a 26-16 lead on the scoreboard.
Sitka battled back with Forrester driving hard to the rim, freshman Chloe Morrison working inside, and junior Tiffany Elefante hitting a deep shot to close within one, 29-28 with under a minute in the third.
Again, the Lady Braves answered with a steal and score by Sunny, and a multiple rebound effort that resulted in Beans hitting a runner for the 33-28 advantage ending the quarter.
“We had a lot of rebounds,” Mt. Egecumbe coach Kathy Forrester said. “ But we need to be able to score off the rebounds. The scoring was balanced, no one hit double digits, but eight ladies made up the majority of the score. We still had too many turnovers. We would get a decent lead and then keep fouling and putting them at the line. I also feel we played flat-footed a few quarters, which made it a closer game.”
Sitka’s Forrester closed the score to three, 33-30, after connecting on two foul shots. Sunny and Miller answered for Mt. Edgecumbe, and Forrester answered back.
The teams would exchange baskets down the stretch with Sitka pulling within two, 39-37, on an Elefante steal and layup with a minute remaining.
Bell would miss a free throw with 52 seconds left and Sitka’s Vidad took the loose ball down court but missed from the corner. Miller rebounded for Mt. Edgecumbe but the Lady Braves gave up the ball and Miller earned her fourth foul with 30 seconds left.
Going to the line would be Sitka’s Forrester and as her mother watched from the opposing bench she sank points 38 and 39 to tie the game.
Both teams turned the ball over and with 11 seconds remaining Miller stole a skip pass and fed Sunny who missed but Miller followed up for the rebound put back and was fouled with 0.3 on the clock.
After bruising the backboard on the first miss, she banked in the game winner.
“It is one of the most fun games I have ever been a part of,” Sitka coach Sondra Lundvick said. “It was awesome, just awesome. That is what it is supposed to be right there. And it is going to be that again tomorrow. It was an awesome effort. Unfortunately we were just one basket short.”
Sunny and Charlie led Mt. Edgecumbe with 7 points apiece, Beans and Bell had 6 each, Miller 5, Ramoth 4, Brown 3, and Kameroff 2. Charlie had 8 rebounds, Kameroff and Beans 5 apiece, and Sunny 4. Charlie also had 6 steals, Sunny 3 and Bell 2.
The Lady Braves were 3-8 at the charity stripe, the Lady Wolves 14-21. Mt. Edgecumbe had 26 turnovers, Sitka 19 (unofficially).
Forrester led Sitka with 16 points, Elefante 8, Morrison 6, Vidad and Brady 4 apiece, and freshman Tawny Smith 1. Unofficial stats show Forrester with 7 rebounds, Vidad 5, Morrison and Jessica Davis 4 apiece.
Sitka (10-11) and Mt. Edgecumbe (14-10) square off again at 6:30 p.m. tonight inside the B.J. McGillis Gymnasium. A win gives MEHS the Southeast title and the lone conference bid to the state tournament. A Sitka win forces a third game on Saturday. The two teams are now even at 2-2 on the season, both winning on their home courts, Sitka taking games by 52-42 and 37-27 margins, and MEHS winning by the tally of 35-23 in between.
