Skagway took a first quarter lead against Hydaburg on Wednesday but couldn’t hold on, falling to the Warriors 43-35 during the first round of the Region V 1A Basketball Tournament at Thunder Mountain High School.
Koto Shindo led the Panthers with a game-high 20 points, including nine in the first to give Skagway a 15-12 lead at the end of the quarter. Skagway fell flat in the second, scoring just six points and giving Hydaburg the opening it needed to retake the lead at halftime, 30-21, through a competition of 3-pointers and defensive pressure leading to steals and layups.
The Panthers struggled again in the third quarter, scoring just two baskets, allowing the Warriors to extend their lead to 39-26.
Skagway found life again in the fourth and with four minutes to go cut Hydaburg’s lead to 41-35, but that’s as close as the Panthers would get.
Senior Sidney Warren-Edenshaw led Hydaburg with 16 points, followed by senior Nick Nix with 12 and sophomore Roger Trout with six.
After Shindo’s 20 points, leading scorers for Skagway were juniors Alex Ackerman with six and Colton Belisle with four.
Hydaburg shot just 4–of-11 from the free throw line, and Skagway shot 7-of-14.
Hydaburg will next play the winner of the Kake/Angoon game at 4:30 p.m. today. Results of that game will appear at juneauempire.com. Skagway will next play the loser of that game at 11 a.m. today.
