Mount Edgecumbe sweeps own tournament
Braves open prep basketball season with boys, girls titles
Matt Mercier scored 23 points on Saturday night to lead the Class 3A Mount Edgecumbe boys basketball team to a 60-53 victory over the Class 4A Sitka Wolves and the title in the school's own tournament.
The victory gave the Braves a perfect 3-0 record in the tournament, with Mount Edgecumbe also beating Porter Creek of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, 90-36 on Thursday and topping Class 2A Hoonah 88-41 on Friday.
Sitka took second place with a 2-1 record, while Hoonah was third at 1-2 and Porter Creek was winless. The Wolves beat Hoonah 68-37 on Thursday and topped Porter Creek 68-36 on Friday. Hoonah beat Porter Creek 61-50 in Saturday's other boys game.
The boys victory gave Mount Edgecumbe a sweep of the team titles, as the Brave girls also posted a 3-0 record.
The Mount Edgecumbe girls knocked off Porter Creek 67-16 on Thursday, needed overtime to beat Sitka 50-49 on Friday and then clinched the title with a 57-42 victory over Lake Quinault, Wash., on Saturday.
Lake Quinault took second place with a 2-1 record, followed by Sitka at 1-2 and Porter Creek at 0-3. Lake Quinault knocked off Sitka 48-40 on Thursday and beat Porter Creek 41-24 on Friday. Sitka beat Porter Creek 42-25 on Saturday.
"Wow, what an exciting game," Mount Edgecumbe boys coach Archie Young wrote in a note after beating Sitka. "I thought both teams played very hard."
Besides the 23 points from Mercier, Mount Edgecumbe picked up 17 points from James Paukan and 13 from Chris Boskofsky. Karl Stedman led Sitka with 18 points, while Karel Uddipa added 12 and Cody Campbell had nine.
"Individually, I thought everybody that played did a good job," Young wrote. "Chris Boskofsky settled down for us and showed his shooting touch. ... James Paukan put forth another good effort tonight. He shot the ball well and was working hard for rebounds. For 5-7 (5-foot-7) he sure is doing a good job in that department.
"Matt Mercier was huge, once again," Young added. "If there would have been an MVP award, he would have won it hands down. He hit 3's, rebounded and drove the basket. I just can't say enough about how good a kid he is and how hard he works."
Sitka jumped out to an early lead as Stedman nailed three 3-pointers in the first quarter, but midway through the period Mount Edgecumbe settled down and took an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Braves won all four quarters.
"Defensively, I felt like we could have been better," Young said. "We made so many mistakes on defense ... reaching, losing our man and not rotating on penetration. Sitka did a really good job capitalizing on our mistakes, too."
In Hoonah's victory over the Porter Creek boys, Dustin Bowen scored 24 points and Devin Moritz added 20 to lead the Braves. Scott Price scored 12 points to lead Porter Creek.
In Thursday's boys games, Mercier scored 19 points and Dwight Amaktoolik added 11 to lead Mount Edgecumbe over Porter Creek, which was led by Andrew Jansen's eight points. Mitch Hawk scored 15 points and Stedman added 14 as Sitka beat Hoonah, which picked up 16 points from Bowen and 14 from Moritz.
On Friday, Mercier led Mount Edgecumbe over Hoonah with 22 points, while Paukan added 16 and Oscar Active scored nine as the Braves hit 15 3-pointers in the game. Hoonah was led by Moritz with 21 points and Bowen with 11. Hawk scored 13 points, Uddipa had 12 and Campbell scored 10 as Sitka beat Porter Creek, which was led by Price's 12 points.
In girls action on Saturday, Ella Morris and Jennifer Evan both scored 12 points to lead Mount Edgecumbe in its tournament-title-clinching victory over Lake Quinault, which had 14 points from Rachael Pink. Sidney Wyman scored 15 points and Ashley Norman added 10 as Sitka beat Porter Creek, which was led by Stacy Taylor's 10 points.
On Friday, Morris scored five of her 15 points in overtime to lead Mount Edgecumbe over Sitka. Meredith Akaran added 11 points, while Grace Stickman and Jennifer Evan both scored eight points for the Braves. Wyman led all scorers with 29 points for Sitka, while Miranda Whitson added eight points for the Wolves.
In Friday's other game, Lindy Peterson scored 13 points, Pink added 10 and Patty Blackburn scored nine as Lake Quinault beat Porter Creek, which was led by Naomi Gladish's eight points.
In Thursday's opening round, Morris scored 16 points and Bunky Keyes added 11 as Mount Edgecumbe knocked off Porter Creek, which was led by Gladish's seven points. Peterson scored 19 points and Pink had nine as Lake Quinault beat Sitka, which had 15 points from Wyman and eight from Whitson.
"I thought we played with great intensity," Mount Edgecumbe girls coach Rich Calkins wrote on Thursday. "The girls were (diving) on the floor for every loose ball. Meredith Akaran (nine points) set the tone with her great hustle all over the floor."
The Sitka and Mount Edgecumbe boys and girls teams will have a chance to meet again this weekend, as they will play in Sitka's tournament.
Craig boys sweep Ketchikan
Raymond Douville led the Class 3A Craig Panthers in scoring both nights as Craig swept a home-and-home series from Class 4A Ketchikan last weekend.
Douville scored 20 of his game-high 36 points in the third quarter as Craig beat Ketchikan 85-62 on Friday at Craig High School. Fred Hamilton added 18 points for Craig, while Eric Hamilton scored 15 points for the Panthers.
Brendan Mix led Ketchikan with 30 points, while Bob Boyd added 16 points for the Kings, who were missing three players to injury.
On Saturday, Ketchikan had two players back but it made little difference as Douville scored 20 points to lead Craig to a 77-53 victory over Ketchikan at Ketchikan High School. Fred Hamilton added 19 points for the Panthers, with Ryan Jones chipping in 10. Boyd scored 21 points to lead Ketchikan and Mix added 14, even though he didn't score until midway through the third quarter.
"They kicked our butts," Ketchikan coach John Brown told the Ketchikan Daily News. "We have to back away and give them credit, and walk on and do what we have to do."
Ketchikan girls sweep Craig
Anne Elliott scored 21 points on Friday as the Ketchikan girls claimed a 52-39 victory over Craig at Craig High School. On Saturday, Elliott scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out nine assists as the Kings completed the series sweep with a 51-31 victory over the Panthers at Ketchikan High School.
In Friday's game, Tori Edwardson scored nine points for Ketchikan, while Whitney Hofstedt and Maria Swaim both tallied eight points. Vanessa James scored 20 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead Craig, while Heather Douville added 10.
On Saturday, Swaim scored 14 points to lead Ketchikan, while Terra DeLong added eight. Douville scored 14 points to lead Craig and Jerian Kampnich added 12, while Ketchikan's defense held James to just two points.
Ketchikan hosts the Lady Kings Invitational tournament this weekend, and Craig could wind up playing the Kings again.
The Juneau Empire's Southeast Hoops Roundup is compiled once a week by the Empire sports staff. Southeast varsity basketball coaches are reminded to get their scoresheets faxed over to the Empire (1-907-586-3028) or e-mail the leading scorers and game highlights to sports@juneauempire.com by noon on Monday so the feature can run in Wednesday's or Thursday's sports sections. If they have not already done so, coaches also need to fax or e-mail their team rosters and schedules to the Empire. Thank you.