Kings are queens of their own tourney

The Ketchikan girls basketball team needed a fourth-quarter offensive explosion from Anne Elliott to win its own Lady Kings Invitational tournament last weekend at Ketchikan High School's Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium.

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Elliott scored 10 of her game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Kings rallied from a seven-point deficit to beat the North Bend (Ore.) Bulldogs 62-57 in Saturday's championship game.

In Saturday's other games, the Petersburg Vikings beat the Craig Panthers 69-44 to take third place, the Metlakatla Misschiefs needed overtime to beat the Wrangell Wolves for fourth place, and the Charles Hays Hurricanes of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, knocked off the Ketchikan C team 49-15 to win the seventh-place game.

Elliott, who picked up three fouls in the first quarter and was benched for part of the second and third quarters, earned tournament MVP honors for her efforts. Despite her foul trouble, Elliott scored 16 points in the first half as Ketchikan took a 29-27 lead. North Bend went on a 10-point run in the third quarter and led 46-39 entering the fourth quarter.

"I'm thinking of putting big mittens on her (Elliott) so she doesn't get those early fouls," Ketchikan coach Doug Nausid told the Ketchikan Daily News. "A couple of times, she made me nervous reaching in there. But when all the other pins were down she was still in there."

Whitney Hofstedt scored 14 points for Ketchikan, while Tori Edwardson added 12 for the Kings. The Bulldogs were led by 19 points from Kari Adkins, 18 points from Chelsea Praus and 10 points from Janee Olds.

"I told the kids that this is probably been the proudest I've been of any team I've coached," Nausid said. "Coming back against the adversity, with younger and inexperienced kids, but they put it together tonight. They had their 'A' game tonight when they had to."

In Petersburg's victory, Britni Birchell scored 13 points, Katrina Berg chipped in 12, Kayleigh Short added 11 and Brandy Cole scored 10 points for the Vikings, while Heather Douville scored 22 and Vanessa James added nine to lead the Panthers.

Kristy Didrickson led Metlakatla to its second straight overtime victory with 14 points, while Dena Kautz scored 15 to lead Wrangell. Julia Crawford scored nine points to lead Charles Hays, while Jo Marie Alba led the Ketchikan C team with six points.

In Friday's semifinal games, North Bend beat Petersburg 50-33 and Ketchikan topped Craig 69-38. In Friday's consolation games, Metlakatla beat Charles Hays 49-46 in overtime and Wrangell knocked off the Ketchikan C team 46-24.

In Thursday's opening round, Petersburg beat Charles Hays 68-44, North Bend topped Metlakatla 69-32, Craig beat the Ketchikan C team 56-27 and the Ketchikan varsity knocked off Wrangell 51-20.

Sitka girls win title in own tournament

Tournament MVP Sidney Wyman hit two free throws with 10 seconds remaining, leading the host Sitka girls to a 27-26 victory over Heritage Christian School on Saturday night and giving the Wolves the title in their own Holland America Shootout at Sitka High School.

Sitka posted a perfect 3-0 record in the tournament, even though the Class 4A Wolves didn't score more than 43 points in any game. Mount Edgecumbe, a Class 3A team that beat Sitka a week earlier in the Mount Edgecumbe tournament, took second place with a 2-1 record. Kake, the tournament's only Class 2A school, took third place at 1-2, while Class 3A Heritage Christian was fourth at 0-3.

In Saturday's finale, Wyman and Chelsea Young each scored eight points to lead Sitka, while Meggie Matteson led the Eagles with 21 points. In Saturday's other game, Ella Morris scored 17 points and Ellie Jackson added 10 as Mount Edgecumbe beat Kake 44-28. Danielle Knudson scored 16 points to lead Kake.

On Friday, Miranda Whitson scored 14 points and Kim Dodson added nine as Sitka avenged its loss to Mount Edgecumbe the week before with a 34-26 victory. Alexis Moore led the Braves, who were missing several players to early holiday trips home to their respective villages. In Friday's other game, Knudson scored 36 points as Kake edged Heritage Christian 43-42. Matteson led the Eagles with 20 points.

On Thursday, Wyman scored 16 points and Kim Dodson added 10 as Sitka knocked off Kake 43-36. Knudson led the Thunderbirds with 23 points and RoseAnn Jackson added 11. In Thursday's other game, Bunky Keys scored 13 points and Morris added 12 as Mount Edgecumbe beat Heritage Christian 41-38. Matteson led the Eagles with 15 points and Meridith Sutherland added 11.

Mount Edgecumbe boys win Sitka tourney

Chris Boskofsky scored 21 points as the Mount Edgecumbe boys beat Sitka 54-37 Saturday night, giving the Braves the title in the Holland America Shootout at Sitka High School.

Mount Edgecumbe won the tournament title on a tie-breaker, due to its opening-night loss to Heritage Christian School. Mount Edgecumbe and Sitka finished the tournament with 2-1 records, but the Braves won the title because of their head-to-head victory over the Wolves. James Paukan added 17 points and Matt Mercier scored 13 for Mount Edgecumbe, while Karl Stedman paced Sitka with 19 points.

In Saturday's other game, Kake claimed third place with a 70-65 victory over Heritage Christian. Both teams had 1-2 records in the tourney, but the Thunderbirds won the head-to-head game over the Eagles. Kyle Anderson scored 27 points to lead Kake, while Shane Padgett added 16 points and Cyrus Mills scored 14. Trenton Millar led Heritage with 15 points, Rusty Gutierrez added 13 and Reid Anderson scored 12.

On Friday, Stedman scored 14 points, Mitch Hawk added 13 and Cody Campbell chipped in 10 points as Sitka beat Heritage Christian 50-43. Reid Anderson led the Eagles with 19 points and Gutierrez added 13. In Friday's other game, Mercier scored 17 points, Boskofsky added 15 and Peter Jorgenson scored 14 as Mount Edgecumbe beat Kake 80-59. Mills and Padgett scored 14 points each to lead the Thunderbirds, while Joshua Jackson and Kyle Anderson added 13 apiece.

On Thursday, Sitka opened its tournament with a 66-38 victory over Kake. Kyle Anderson scored 15 points to lead the T-Birds. In Thursday's other game, Reid Anderson scored 16 points as Heritage Christian handed Mount Edgecumbe its first loss of the season, 48-42. Boskofsky scored 13 points to lead the Braves, while Mercier added 11 and Jorgenson chipped in 10 points.

Petersburg boys take second in Service Tip-Off Tourney

Jon Randrup scored 18 points to lead five Petersburg boys in double-figure scoring as the Vikings beat Homer 90-52 on Saturday to claim second place in the Service Tip-Off Tournament at Anchorage's Service High School.

Service won its tournament with a perfect 3-0 record, while Petersburg took second with a 2-1 mark. West Anchorage was third at 1-2 and Homer was winless for fourth place.

Kyle Skinner added 16 points, Aaron Severson scored 14, Sam Jensen chipped in 13 and Bryce Covington scored 11 points for Petersburg, the only Class 3A team in the four-team Class 4A tournament. Adam Crum scored 18 points to lead Homer.

On Friday, Daniel Hardy scored 14 points and tournament MVP Bryan Jones added 13 as the host Service Cougars knocked off the Vikings 60-43. Zac Carter scored nine points to lead Petersburg. On Thursday, Petersburg beat West Anchorage 63-47 but no details were available from the game.

Ketchikan boys finish third at Kodiak's Joe Floyd Tourney

The Ketchikan boys won their first game of the season as the Kings knocked off the Hilltop Lancers of Chula Vista, Calif., 66-55 to avoid finishing last in the 36th Annual Joe Floyd Basketball Tournament in Kodiak.

William Montgomery and Nate Norton scored 13 points each to lead Ketchikan (1-4), while Bob Boyd added 11 for the Kings. Ketchikan, which took third place in the tourney, will host its annual Clarke Cochrane Tournament this weekend.

On Friday, Ketchikan narrowly lost to tourney champion Dimond, dropping a 44-41 decision as the Lynx outscored the Kings 9-2 in the fourth quarter. Boyd scored 19 points to lead Ketchikan, which shot just 12-for-23 from the free-throw line. Vince Stewart led Dimond with 12 points. On Thursday, tourney runner-up Kodiak ran off to a 75-55 victory over Ketchikan, despite 22 points from Boyd.

Games from a week ago

The Metlakatla boys opened their season by sweeping Haines, winning 70-55 on Dec. 13 and 65-40 on Dec. 14. The Wrangell and Petersburg boys split their season-openers in Wrangell, with Wrangell winning 60-45 on Dec. 13 and Petersburg winning 65-48 on Dec. 14. The Petersburg girls swept two games in Wrangell, winning 54-28 on Dec. 13 and 54-24 on Dec. 14.

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 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.