Bears blow by Kodiak
ANCHORAGE - Familiar formula, familiar finish.
Juneau-Douglas relied on its defense and deep bench in running away with a 64-28 win over Kodiak in a girls' basketball 4A state tournament opening-round mismatch on Monday at Sullivan Arena.
The Crimson Bears led by nine after one quarter of play and 22 at the half, and were never challenged.
JDHS spent the first couple of minutes getting a feel for Kodiak's plan of attack - which was to slow the tempo - and then JDHS dialed up the defensive heat after making a couple of shots.
The pressure was too much for the Bears from Kodiak, who turned the ball over 27 times, giving away 29 points.
"We run well out of the press, but I figured we would come out a little slower and take a look at them," coach Lesslie Knight said of JDHS's slow start, when the Crimson Bears trailed 6-2 in the early going.
Enter senior guard Mahlet Tingley, who proceeded to knock down a jumper while being fouled for a 3-point play, igniting a 15-2 run.
Junior point guard Karli Brakes followed with a steal and lay-up for junior power forward Taylor Larson, and eight of the Bears' next 10 points came off Kodiak turnovers, giving JDHS a 17-8 lead after one quarter.
Tingley stuck a long jumper and then got a steal and lay-up to start the second quarter, followed by a tough stickback inside for senior forward Annette Highley as the Crimson Bears began to pour it on.
Kodiak answered with a baseline jumper from Puni Tusitino, but it would be the Bears' only points of the quarter.
JDHS responded with a 9-0 spurt to close the half with a 32-10 lead.
Knight credited Tingely for jumpstarting the Crimson Bears' intensity.
"We have Mahlet come off the bench as a spark to come in and apply pressure," Knight said. "I expected them to zone us, and we have three or four great shooters.
"And we didn't walk into the game intimidated at all," she added, referring to the bright lights and big stage. "The really nice thing is that nine out of our 12 players have been here before, so they didn't freak out and they were very calm."
JDHS scored 13 points off 13 turnovers in building its halftime lead. The Crimson Bears' defense limited Kodiak to just 15 first-half shots while JDHS took 30, making 13.
The Crimson Bears also hit the offensive glass, with 12 of their 15 first-half rebounds coming on that end of the court, leading to 14 second-chance points.
And JDHS spread the wealth. Eight different players scored in the first half, led by Tingley's eight points on 3-for-3 shooting.
"We needed to pick it up and that's my job - to come off the bench and give us a spark," Tingley said. "So that's what I needed to do."
Kodiak came out swinging in the third quarter, trading buckets with the Crimson Bears early before going on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 14, 40-26, but junior guard Nani Ostrom buried a 3-pointer before the end of the period, sucking the life out of Kodiak, which was outscored 21-2 over the final eight minutes.
In all, the Crimson Bears' bench outscored the Kodiak Bears' 31-15.
"By halftime, we had 19 points off our bench and that's huge," Knight said. "The biggest thing is we rotated everybody in, a lot of kids scored and we were able to keep all the girls fresh, so it was a great warm-up.
"We were just ready to play and move on to the next level."
Kodiak coach Brett Larson declined to comment.
Fenumiai, who was named the Player of the Game for JDHS, led the Crimson Bears with 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting, including several long jumpers that hit nothing but net. Fenumiai also won the 3-point contest during Sunday's skills competition, while Annette Highley won the hot shot contest.
Eleven of 12 Crimson Bears scored, and junior forwards Sarah Tarver and Hannah Swofford had nine and seven points as the second- and fourth-leading scorers, respectively. Brakes had four steals, and four other Crimson Bears had three.
Tingley said no matter the lopsided score, JDHS could have played better.
"A win is a win and it's always a positive thing," she said. "That definitely wasn't our best performance, but we're hoping to get better and better each day."
JDHS will face West Anchorage today at 3:15 p.m. West beat West Valley 35-32 in a low-scoring affair. Adrina Lavern-Tossi led the Eagles with 19 points. Check www.juneauempire.com for score updates after every quarter.
KODIAK - Yamat 1-6 0-0 2, Garcia 2-5 0-0 4, Taan 2-8 0-2 4, Hiatt 0-2 0-0 0, Grupp 1-5 0-0 2, Gronn 0-0 0-0 0, Tusitino 1-3 2-2 4, Gregory 0-4 1-2 1, Juble 5-7 0-0 11. TOTALS 12-40 3-6 28.
JDHS - Johnson 1-4 2-5 4, Henderson 2-4 0-0 4, Tingley 3-4 1-1 8, Fenumiai 7-9 0-0 14, Brakes 0-3 1-2 1, Ostrom 1-5 0-0 3, Tarver 4-10 1-1 9, Highley 2-5 0-0 5, Weyhrauch 2-2 1-1 5, Larson 2-7 0-0 4, Siddeek 0-1 0-0 0, Swofford 3-5 1-2 7. TOTALS 27-59 7-12 64.