By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka High Lady Wolves knocked the dust off of the school’s victory bell Tuesday with a decisive 62-31 win at home against the Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves.
When the final buzzer rang, Sitka’s players celebrated by ringing the bell reserved for local wins. It was the first time the bell rang since the Lady Wolves scored a Region V victory over Mt. Edgecumbe last March.
For one Sitka freshman, it was the first time participating in the tradition.
“I’ve never rung it before, but it’s pretty cool. It was exciting – it’s a part of Sitka. It’s exciting to be a part of that,” Maitlin Young said after the game.
Her coach, Mindy Bartolaba, said the prospect of ringing the bell motivated her players.
“That was some motivation for them. A lot has been different for them this year and that’s something they have done in the past, ring the bell in a conference win. I had kind of forgotten about it and they asked about it earlier this week and I said, ‘You’re going to have to earn it.’ And they did,” Bartolaba said. “The cool thing about tonight is their families were allowed in, even their siblings, because our town’s numbers were so low.”
Looking back, Young credited the win with all-around solid play from her team.
“We came to play. It was a team effort. We played good defense and had good looks on offense and just played well,” she said. Young led the Lady Wolves’ scoreboard with 21 points, followed by Jocelyn Brady at 16 and Makenna Smith with 12.
As the basketball season moves into its final weeks, Young said, her team has room for improvement.
“Our zone could use a little work, and we have an offense that could use a little work… and our press wasn’t great. We had a lot of fouls on that in the first half,” she said.
The Wolves kept their energy high through the game too, Sitka senior Rean Famini noted.
“We’re a good team, we’ll be fine… It’s our mentality, we’re getting there. And the fact that we help keep each other up is part of why we get two to one (score disparity),” Famini said.
With games against Ketchikan on the horizon, Famini added that if her team keeps up its energy, it’ll stand a chance.
“As long as we keep each other up and push each other we’ll hopefully beat them. They’re a really good team,” she said.
Sitka’s coach noted Kayhi’s aggression.
“They play an aggressive press, they’re aggressive on defense – we need to be prepared for that,” Bartolaba said.
Sitka held and maintained a consistent lead throughout the game. The Lady Wolves were up 15-8 after the first quarter and 32-14 at the half. Despite their best efforts, the Lady Braves could not find an antidote to Sitka’s uncanny ability to break a press.
Despite the loss, Lady Braves’ junior Lisa Strom highlighted her team’s improvement over time.
“In previous games we would rush the ball on offense and usually get a turnover or get it stolen because we would rush. Tonight we did a really good job slowing it down on offense,” Strom recalled.
She stressed the need to maintain energy throughout the entire game.
“It’s going to be exciting (at Region V), because we had some close games with Sitka already but tonight was just not it. We weren’t all prepared and ready to play,” Strom said. “We just need to work on finishing until the end.”
Overmatched, Edgecumbe struggled to crack through Sitka’s defense, never scoring more than three baskets – excluding fouls – in a quarter.
For one Mt. Edgecumbe freshman, Tuesday had a bright side – she marked her first points in a varsity game. Shaedyn Barr, of Kiana, made a three pointer in the final minutes of the game.
“It’s not my first varsity game, but tonight was the first varsity points I’ve scored. I’m still shocked, because I’m not a shooter and I made my shot,” Barr said after the game.
After a difficult season playing against hard-hitting teams like Sitka and Thunder Mountain, Barr highlighted her team’s effort on Tuesday to take better care of the ball.
“We tried to be more patient with the ball,” she said.
This improved ball handling was apparent to the team’s coach.
“The fact that we’re passing better, we’re not throwing it to the defense as much. We’re passing better and making better decisions on the court. We missed a lot of easy buckets, so that never helps,” MEHS coach Kathy Forrester said.
Looking forward to the imminent games against Ketchikan, Forrester emphasized the necessity of improved defense.
“We need to pick up our defense a little bit. Our defense is better, but it’s not where it should be… That’s going to be tricky, we have a couple games with Ketchikan, but we don’t have a lot of practice time,” she said.
Like the other 4A teams in Southeast, Ketchikan presses hard, and Forrester said her team will need to work around that.
“They’re always aggressive, they always press. What we need to do is just learn, use it almost as practice time because the games that count for us are at Regions against Sitka,” she said.
Regardless of wins and losses, Forrester hopes her players continue learning.
“As long as they’re learning I’m not mad about losses. I just want them to learn and enjoy the game” she said.
Both teams play against the Kayhi Kings this week, but as the season wraps up, only the Region V matches between the Lady Wolves and Lady Braves will determine which teams earns a chance to compete at the planned state championship.
