By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka High Wolves’ basketball teams faced an uphill struggle over the weekend, playing against a number of formidable teams.
The boys team fell 53-33 to Cascade, Oregon, and lost again to Fairbanks’ Lathrop, 53-47. The Wolves notched a win against Craig, 50-33.
The Lady Wolves played a trio of 4A teams and fell 52-46 to East Anchorage, 62-48 to Fairbanks’ West Valley, and 52-38 to Juneau-Douglas.
Turnovers, the classic early season nemesis, dogged both teams, according to the coaches.
“We played three 4A teams this weekend, and I thought we did some really good things. We learned some really good lessons,” Lady Wolves coach Sondra Lundvick said in an interview.
She called the match-up against East Anchorage a good experience. Tawny Smith made a shot at the buzzer off of a screen from Chloe Morrison, sending the game into overtime.
Though the Lady Wolves lost the game in OT, Lundvick concluded that “it’s just about trying to get better... and I think we’ve done that.”
“I think they are learning each other and working together well. It’s a new group, a young group, and I just see a really positive attitude,” Lundvick said.
Lady Wolves Makenna Smith (5) drives to the net in a game against Valdez, Dec. 20, at Sitka High. The Lady Wolves played again in the last weekend of the decade, Dec. 27-29. The team has the first weekend of 2020 off. (Sentinel photo)
Tiffany Elefante, the team’s only senior, won the All-Tourney nod in Juneau, Monday. “That was well deserved. She had a phenomenal tournament,” her coach said.
“We played against bigger, stronger, faster teams. But I thought all in all we fought really hard and really well. We were in every game, so that’s about all you can ask for,” Lundvick said.
Sitka’s boys endured a difficult weekend as well.
“I think so far the improvement is confidence. Confidence in themselves and confidence in what we’re doing. And now we’re doing a good job in sticking together as a team,” Wolves coach Jarrett Hirai said.
The team’s first opponent was Cascade High School. “They were tough,” Hirai said. “They were a high-tempo team that put a lot of pressure on the ball, put a lot of pressure on the passing lanes. And we weren’t ready to play against that kind of defense.”
A combination of Cascade’s high-tempo and Sitka’s 29 turnovers sealed the Wolves’ loss. Hirai noted that Cascade’s high energy defense made moving the ball a challenge.
“Something we’re going to have to continue to get better at is taking care of the ball,” he concluded.
The Wolves made strides against Lathrop, however, nearly evening the score in the second half. Hirai said “they’re a big, physical, fast team. We didn’t being the energy that we needed to in the first half of the game. And we ended up getting back within five, it was as close as we got to them in the second half. And our energy improved and our confidence improved.”
The third time was the charm for Sitka, this time facing Craig, in Ketchikan, Sunday.
Sitka won, 50-33.
“We tried to play the style of basketball that I want our guys to get used to: we pressed them,” Hirai said. He noted that Craig handled the press well, but in the end couldn’t withstand the pressure.
In spite of the win, Sitka still turned the ball over 18 times. The coach said that much of the challenge in the third game was fatigue after three straight days of travel and play.
“The confidence is continuing to get better,” he said.
After weeks of practice and play, both the Wolves and the Braves have a weekend off coming up. The teams play again next weekend, Jan. 10-12.
