By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
In a game that’s become endearing across the nation for flashy offenses and score clocks that light up like pinball machines, the Sitka High School boys basketball team went old school against the visiting Mt. Edgecumbe Braves, winning the Battle of the Bridge rematch 61-47 behind upper classmen who do all the dirty work in the trenches.
“There are a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat book,” Sitka senior Aedon Dumag said. “It’s the small things like boxing out, it’s the little things that keep adding up, and when they go up, then we win.”
Dumag hit the first basket of the game from deep but the Wolves didn’t score again until 2:40 remained in the first quarter, when sr. CJ Taccad found the basket.
Sitka Wolves senior Aedon Dumag (1) is fouled by Mt. Edgecumbe Braves senior Emmett Dunaway (24) during the Wolves 61-47 win over the Braves on Tuesday at the SHS gym. (Sentinel Photos by Klas Stolpe)
Mt. Edgecumbe relied on the athleticism of senior Emmett Dunaway (Dillingham) and sophomores Jeff Adams (Mentasta) and RJ Alstrom-Beans to score their 9 first quarter points, none of which came easily as Dumag orchestrated the Wolves’ press with Taccad, and classmates Taccad, Morgan Simic and Austin Morrison and junior Gavin Flores.
The Wolves slowly acclimated to the officiating in the stanza by earning six fouls, but also forcing six turnovers including a steal by Taccad that closed the Wolves to within 2 points and Dumag hit a free throw to cut that in half.
Sitka Wolves senior CJ Taccad (11) shoots over the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves defense. (Sentinel Photos by Klas Stolpe)
Mt. Edgecumbe’s Bear Brown (Anchorage) was fed the ball in the second quarter, scoring inside and adding four free throws, but the Braves were pushed outside their comfort zone.
Sitka’s Simic rotated among Brown, Dunaway and Adams, hedging on screens and keeping contact on them during shots.
Sitka senior Morgan Simic (13) drives baseline against Mt. Edgecumbe senior Emmett Dunaway and sophomore Jeff Adams (42) during the first quarter of the Wolves 61-47 win over the Braves on Tuesday at the SHS gym. (Sentinel Photos by Klas Stolpe)
“I just look at giving them more physicality than they show,” Simic said. “I try to box out as hard as I can and get good positioning and let the ball come down, then go towards it. I don’t really take pride in jumping towards the ball, I’m more about boxing out.”
Simic tallied a team-high 8 rebounds, and was a fixture in the center of the Wolves trapping defense that forced 10 first half turnovers.
“We have to limit turnovers,” Brown said after the game. “We can’t throw the ball away under pressure at crunch time. It’s just a tough loss. Sitka has been a rival of Mt. Edgecumbe for years and coming over here playing in this atmosphere, and just playing against other great players, it’s just really fun.”
The fun resulted in six lead changes in the second quarter, the Wolves putting the Braves in the bonus at the charity stripe and tensions rising as the full court pressure built among both uniform colors.
Brown drew a foul on Sitka jr. Mason Eubanks that also drew a technical on the flamboyant leaper and brought a time out from the Sitka side.
Brown next hit 3-of-4 from the line, the last one missing but being rebounded and scored by Dunaway for a 23-22 Mt. Edgecumbe lead and Alstrom-Beans pushed that to 25.
“I don’t think there was a time when the intensity wasn’t there,” Sitka coach Jarrett Hirai said.
“I called a time out to make sure we didn’t get over-confidant and we didn’t get over-intense. I didn’t want to ruin a run but I thought I sensed a couple guys getting a little bit too into the game, and we have to make sure we stay the course. The bench kept everybody together and we were able to come back out a little more focused. I was worried when we got that technical. We had went on a 6-0 run and then they came back and I was really worried the momentum was going to shift, but we stayed together. That has kind of been our motto, to stick together and we were able to mentally.”
Sitka jr. Asa Demmert and sr. Garrison Lass scored on the next two possessions for an even break at the half.
“I’m never worried about how we start, just about how we finish,” Hirai said. “As long as we can make it competitive in the first half, we just have to figure out how to carry it over, and tonight we were able to carry over that third quarter into the fourth. I’m glad that happened – it gives them a sense of the goal that we have been looking for. Just to be competitive at the end is kind of what I want moving forward. Our season is almost to the end and we are just trying to put little parts together, and hopefully we play the best complete basketball we can.”
That complete game saw Sitka move the ball expertly around the perimeter, resulting in two inside baskets by senior John Arce, and shots from deep by Taccad and Flores.
Flores hit his second and third 3-pointer from opposite ends of the baseline arch as he waited for the ball to move back to his position.
“Usually when I’m just set, ready to shoot it, that’s when my stroke is pretty good,” Flores said. “When I catch and shoot I’m 50-50. But once I am just sitting there and ready, and my position is right, that’s when I like to shoot. We’re a team. It’s never just one player. Everyone has to be in the game.”
After Brown scored and was fouled for a 31-28 Mt. Edgecumbe lead, Sitka’s Simic earned two free throws off a rebound and Arce battled for a rebound score that put the Wolves on top for good, 32-31 half way through the stanza.
Flores would score inside after a Sitka time out, Taccad added a rebound score, and the Braves soon found themselves down 44-34 after three quarters of action.
Mt. Edgecumbe closed to within 8 points with five minutes left in the game but Simic battled for a rebound and the ball ended up in Morrison’s hands for a score and a 10-point lead for Sitka that never went less.
Five straight free throws by Arce, Morrison and Dumag resulted in a 52-38 lead and the Braves’ Alstrom-Beans being retired for the night. Brown would follow a minute later.
Dumag forced a Mt. Edgecumbe turnover and fed Simic who put Sitka’s final points on the board from the charity stripe for the 60-47 final.
“They beat us last time,” Dumag said. “We definitely knew that we could beat them. We learned from that game, came back this game and this is the result. This is our last season, the seniors. We are definitely giving our all and that shows when we play. Not everything in the books is stated. It’s the small things like boxing out, the little things that keep adding up and when they go up then we win.”
Mt. Edgecumbe sophomore Jeff Adams (42) shoots over Sitka senior Aedon Dumag as Wolves senior Morgan Simic and Braves senior Bear Brown react during action on Tuesday. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
Dumag led the Wolves in the little things, he had a career day in little things; Simic led in the art of boxing out, it was his most artistic game of the season; and the Wolves led in playing together, another stat that isn’t checked in the box score.
“We just stick with coach’s game plan and we stick together,” Taccad said. “No one goes off track and tries to do something special. For some of these guys we have been playing them since four years in a row now, especially Bear Brown.. and respect to Bear and the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves they played hard to the end and we are looking forward to playing them again across the bridge.”
Taccad, Dumag, Flores, and Simic were all part of the team defense that forced 17 Mt. Edgecumbe turnovers and held returning senior guard Cyprian Johnson-Edwards (Emmonak) scoreless and the Braves back court to just 6 points.
Flores scored 15 points for Sitka, Taccad 10, Arce and Dumag 8 apiece, Lass 6, Simic and Morisson 5 apiece, Demmert and Eubanks 2 each.
The Wolves were 19-28 at the line, the Braves 20-32.
Brown led Mt. Edgecumbe with 13 points, Dunaway and Adams 10 apiece, Alstrom-Beans 8, fr. Keith Johns (Glennallen) and jr. David Dock (Togiak) 3 apiece.
“Our biggest issue right now is pretty evident; we’re even on shot attempts to turnovers,” Mt. Edgecumbe coach Archie Young said. “If we have 60 possessions we’re only getting 30 shots up per game, we’re just turning the ball over. We have a lot of unforced errors that we need to eliminate. I think it’s inexperience and I think some kids are trying too hard – instead of keeping the game simple, we’re trying too hard to make good plays. They are trying too hard to make tough passes. We’re not keeping the game simple enough, and we’re not playing within ourselves which leads to a lot of poor choices. We can’t beat ourselves, we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. We’re going to see a lot better pressure this weekend; nothing against Sitka, but Ketchikan is going to be a lot like this and will pressure us and come after us hard. We have got to learn to play within ourselves and keep the game simple.”
Mt. Edgecumbe (5-11) will host the 4A Ketchikan Kings on Friday and Saturday in the B.J. McGillis Gymnasium. The Sitka boys (6-13) and girls (9-10) games against Petersburg tonight have been canceled due to repair service for the AMHS M/V Aurora.
In preliminary games on Tuesday the Sitka JV defeated MEHS JV 46-34 (SHS- R.Bartlett 16, J.Roy 11, C.Grant 6, M.Saline 5, J.Harris, S.Webb, W.Urias, C.Pearson 2, J.Diga, R.Heim 1; MEHS- C.Smith 11, G.Bourdukofsky 7, F.Meyers 5, D.Jackson 4, A.Bavilla, R.Cleveland, J.Frost 2, K.Johns 1); and the Sitka C topped MEHS C 47-31 (SHS- T.Barragan 14, Urias 10, J.Antolin 9, N.Calhoun 5, Heim 4, T.Carley, M.Johnson 2, G.Rosas 1; MEHS- D.Small 8, C.Merculief 6, AjMoses 4, S.Samuel, J.Cleveland, M.Allen, W.Brown 2).
