By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
In a fast paced and physical game, the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves overran the Sitka High Wolves basketball squad for the second time this season, Tuesday night at Sitka High. The Braves claimed a one-sided victory 68-37.
Frequent turnovers haunted Sitka High throughout the game, a problem made worse by Edgecumbe’s long reach.
“We’re a very long team and we’re learning to play long. I think our length did a good job getting our hands on a lot of passes. That’s going to be key for us, learning how to play longer and get more deflections… We want to get better at deflections,” Braves coach Archie Young said after the game.
Braves’ junior Mason Ivanoff, from Unalakleet, said moving forward, he hopes his team plays smarter and secures control of the court.
“We just need to gain control as a team. We need to see the floor more and look for people wide open. We just need to have more smartness in our game, so we can be smarter and also play harder,” Ivanoff said.
The coach added that, while his team’s defense was solid, the Braves’ offense was somewhat stagnant.
“Offensively I really didn’t like how we were. We created turnovers, offensively we have a very long way to go. Offensively we were very stagnant… We just have to have better movement,” Young said.
As evidence of this, the coach cited the team’s high number of three point shots. The Braves netted eight three pointers in the game, five from RJ Alstrom-Beans alone, with two more coming from Ivanoff, and one from Leon Toomer. Alstrom-Beans led the Braves’ scoreboard by a wide margin with a whopping 22 points, followed by Toomer and Ivanoff, both with 12.
“I think we get content with threes,” Young said.
Ivanoff agreed with his coach, noting that the Braves need to improve their passing to and shooting from the inside.
“Our baskets need to be consistent, inside and outside. And that’s about all. We could get better throwing the ball in, shooting more inside when our three point game is off,” he said.
Despite teething problems, Mt. Edgecumbe’s boys dominated the game out of the gate, leading 13-4 by the end of the first quarter and 30-17 at the half.
Unopposed Edgecumbe scoring streaks sometimes consumed several consecutive minutes of game play as the Wolves’ energy ebbed and flowed in the face of an onslaught.
Sitka High coach Jarrett Hirai noted this as well.
“We started with energy tonight and… we were kind of afraid to fail. We were a step behind again because we were hesitant and just slow. We were second guessing ourselves,” Hirai said following the loss.
Hirai noted that his team’s defense suffered at the hands of Edgecumbe’s high tempo of play.
“Turnovers hurt us, but our lack of defense really was the biggest issue, and trying to figure out what will work best against them,” Hirai said. “We’ve just got to play smarter.”
The coach highlighted the role of a team’s mental state in basketball.
“A lot of it has to do with just self-confidence and that is something we have to get better at. It’s not even practice, it’s a mental game,” Hirai said.
Looking for silver linings, Sitka’s coach said there were moments of more confident play.
“There were glimpses of confident play and those are positives. We have to highlight those in practice and game film to try to stimulate doing more and more of those confident plays we made,” he said.
On the Sitka side, junior Shane Webb led the scoreboard by a wide margin with 16 points, including four three-pointer shots. Senior Joe Harris followed Webb with nine points.
The coach added that he hopes to improve incrementally with each game.
“If each game we improve on a couple things, even one things and improve that by the end of the season we could find ourselves being a much better team overall. But we have a long time to go,” Hirai said.
Regardless of the outcome of the game, the presence of a crowd approaching 50 spectators along with the Sitka pep band brought the gym to life in a way not seen since the winter of 2020.
“Kids feed off of it. It makes it feel like more of a game and less of a practice, and that’s a good thing,” Hirai noted.
On the other side of the court, Ivanoff agreed.
“It feels way better, it takes my mind off things. It’s relieving. It feels normal and natural to have a crowd,” the Edgecumbe player said.
The pep band, equipped with drums, electric guitars, and five-gallon buckets used as drums rocked the gymnasium and breathed a more normal feeling into the game.
“Having the cheer team there and having the pep band there to help support makes it feel like the experience that we’ve missed for a while. And it’s good to make it kind of normal again,” Hirai said, stressing the positive atmosphere of high school sports. “It just seems like a positive place. We’re just happy that we get to play and have some people to make noise.”
Sitka High plays Juneau-Douglas for the first time this season today and Thursday. The Braves face off against Juneau later in the week. The schedule is below.
TODAY, FEBRUARY 10 @ SHS
Boys basketball
5:30 p.m. Junior Varsity SHS v. MEHS
7:30 p.m. Varsity SHS v. Juneau Douglas
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11 @ SHS
Boys basketball
4 p.m. C Teams SHS v. MEHS
5:30 p.m. Junior Varsity SHS v. Juneau
7 p.m. Varsity SHS v. Juneau
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12 @ MEHS
Boys basketball
4:15 p.m. C Team SHS v. MEHS
5:45 p.m. Junior Varsity MEHS v. Juneau
7:30 p.m. Varsity MEHS v. Juneau
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13 @ SHS
Boys basketball
Noon Junior Varsity SHS v. Juneau
SATURDAY @ MEHS
Boys basketball
4:15 p.m. C Teams SHS v. MEHS
5:45 p.m. Junior Varsity SHS v. Juneau
7:30 p.m. Varsity SHS v. Juneau
