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The Juneau-Douglas High School girls basketball team showed what its entire roster could do against Sitka on Thursday.

The Crimson Bears advanced to the Class 4A Southeast Region Tournament title game with a 57-27 win over the Wolves. JDHS will play top-seeded Ketchikan at 7:30 p.m. tonight for the title and a berth in the state tournament.

"It was important to not take any chances and be strong in the defeat of Sitka," JDHS coach Lesslie Knight said, "and send a message to Ketchikan that we're getting better. We're playing better as a team."

JDHS put the game away with a strong first-half effort from its entire squad.

While Sitka sat in a zone, Juneau-Douglas chose to attack rather than sit back and shoot. The Bears also rebounded well as Mahlet Tingley, Hannah Swofford and Nicole Fenumiai all scored off offensive rebounds to give JDHS an 18-6 first-quarter lead.

Defensively, Juneau-Douglas employed an aggressive man-to-man defense. The Wolves struggled throughout the game to find open shots as the Crimson Bears' defenders swarmed to the ball. Sitka shot 22 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers.

"In general we've been trying to pick up the tempo in practice and play at a higher tempo," Knight said. "One thing we admire about Ketchikan is how hard they play. Our absolute focus is to take the opponent out of their game. We're really working on controlling the other team with our defensive intensity."

The Bears' starters struggled a bit to start the second quarter as Sitka cut the lead to 20-11 on Michaela Coleman's 3-pointer.

Juneau-Douglas received a terrific spark off the bench to stem the tide. Annette Highley and Swofford scored five points each while Kristen Dierick chipped in four points each to close the half on a 14-1 run. JDHS led 34-12 at halftime and coasted in the second half to victory.

Juneau's bench played a key role in the game as Swofford, a reserve center, led the team with 11 points. In all, the Crimson Bears' reserves accounted for 34 of the team's 57 points.

"We have a lot of depth on our bench," Knight said. "We have several players. Kayla and Annette provide a huge spark."

Juneau also excelled offensively in protecting the ball. JDHS committed just eight turnovers as Tingley, the Bears' point guard, had four assists and no turnovers.

Up next for Juneau-Douglas will be the Lady Kings. Ketchikan currently owns a three-game winning streak against its conference rival.

Juneau-Douglas 57, Sitka 27

JDHS 18 16 10 13 - 57

Sitka 6 6 7 8 - 27

JDHS (57)-Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Dierick 2-3 0-0 4, Tingley 3-3 2-2 8, B. Fenumiai 2-5 0-0 4, Brakes 1-2 0-0 2, Harrison 0-1 0-0 3, Tarver 3-6 3-7 9, Highley 2-4 1-1 5, Larson 3-5 1-3 7, N. Fenumiai 1-6 0-0 2, Swofford 5-9 1-1 11, Henderson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-46 8-14 57.

Sitka (27)-Trani 1-2 0-0 2, Albee 0-0 0-0 0, Canson 0-4 0-1 0, Medinger 1-4 2-4 , Chapman 0-4 0-0 0, Johnson 5-12 2-4 12, Coleman 0-3 0-0 6, Pulteau 0-2 3-4 3, Ramil 0-0 0-0 0, Hagen 0-0 0-0 0, Inman 0-0 0-0 0.

3-point Goals-JDHS 1-7 (Harrison 1-1, Tingley 0-3, B. Fenumiai 0-1, Brakes 0-2). Sitka 2-9 (Coleman 2-4, Chapman 0-4, Johnson 0-1).

Rebounds-JDHS 37 (N. Fenumiai 7). Sitka 32 (Canson 9).

Assists-JDHS 12 (Tingley 4). Sitka 5 (Trani, Albee, Chapman, Johnson, Coleman).

Fouled out-None.

• Contact sports editor Tim Nichols at 523-2228 or sports@juneauempire.com.