Capital City Classic Day 1: JDHS boys beat Cordova in nightcap

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé boys basketball team found their marksmanship and a solid fan base in a 62-39 win over Cordova in the nightcap game of the George Houston Capital City Classic Friday in their home gym.

“What is a lot of fun is just how many people showed up tonight,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said. “For the girls game and the boys game and they were treated to four teams playing really hard.”

The Crimson Bears connected on 11 three-point shots, and never trailed to the Wolverines in front of a bleacher-filled and boisterous crowd.

“There were some nerves for us for sure,” Casperson said. “It is our first time at home and our boys want to do well, and I really appreciated the way they worked so hard. They were really looking for each other and sharing the ball.”

The Crimson Bears had six players score in the first quarter including senior Ben Sikes netting the first home bucket for the team and junior Brandon Casperson following a shot for a 4-0 lead.

After a free throw from Wolverines senior Chiko Jacob, JDHS senior Pedrin Saceda-Hurt hit from past the arch, junior Damian Efergan found a free throw and the Crimson Bears were up 8-1.

Cordova cut into the lead with back-to-back threes by seniors Noah Pearson and Thomas Nothstine to close to 8-7, but senior Gavin Gerrin came off the bench for a couple baskets, B. Casperson found another and senior Ahmir Parker hit from deep.

JDHS would lead 15-9 after eight minutes of action.

The Crimson Bears would hit six shots past the arch in the second period including one by junior Goren Gasga in the opening seconds.

B. Casperson hit a deep shot, Parker stole a ball and fed B. Casperson or a layup, and JDHS was up 23-11 with four minutes left to play in the half.

Gasga would hit another shot past the arch, Gerrin did the same and Gasga added another from long range.

“Coach just says if there is a hot hand take it but, you know, it is just a team thing,” Gasga said. “I was looking for my teammates also, but was just open. I’m just blown away by it. This win came from talking and playing together, it is just a team thing. We played together, we played well, we talked on defense and hustle on every play. It was good. The gym was full and that is my favorite thing…the band playing, the student section, everyone just getting hyped for us, it is amazing.”

Cordova would hit three baskets in a row to cut the lead to 32-20, but JDHS’ Gasga dropped his fourth deep shot of the quarter with all net at the buzzer for a 35-20 halftime lead.

JDHS continued to share the ball in the third quarter, while Cordova continued to play a patient game and outscored the Crimson Bears 15-13 in the stanza to trail 50-35.

“We lost six seniors, but we have a strong returning class this year,” Cordova coach Jack Borst said. “Just coming together as a team was important after the whole offseason. This is our first game back so it was important to come back as a team and make sure we were all on the same page…I liked our fight, we never gave up. We played a real solid Juneau-Douglas team. They shot the lights out, but we never gave up. We fought until the very end and I think that is what I am most proud of…It is a joy when the team actually listens to your pregame speeches and what we need to work on. The patience was one of our focuses tonight and I think we did a good job of setting up the offense and looking for those mismatches and our strengths. I think it was important for us to do that and, again, to be on the same page and are all working towards the same collective goal.”

JDHS seemed to not tire in the fourth quarter, still playing hard-pressure defense and holding Cordova to just four points in the stanza while tallying 12 themselves, including two more shots past the arch by B. Casperson, two key assists by Saceda-Hurt, and some solid inside board work by Sikes and Parker.

“We could have had some really nice plays if we finished shots on transitions,” coach Casperson said. “But it was fun they were looking for each other in those situations…It seemed like Cordova was pretty patient in what they were trying to do, we have to be more patient defensively and not reach. We got impatient and had good position but then decided to reach. We’ll work on that, watch a little film and see all the different areas where we should have kept a kid in front of us…we have to stay patient and disciplined on defense.”

B. Casperson led the Crimson Bears with 17 points, Gasga added 16, Gerrin nine, Saceda-Hurt eight, Sikes six, Parker three, junior Tyler Frisby two and Efergan one.

JDHS hit 3-6 from the charity stripe, Cordova 16-19.

Jacob led the Wolverines with 12 points, senior John Itliong nine, Pearson eight, Nothstine seven and junior Blake Bailey three.

Following is the GHCCC schedule:

FRIDAY: 1 p.m. girls – Chugiak 43, Kenai 34; 3 p.m. boys – Federal Way 63, Soldotna 40; 5 p.m. girls – JDHS 71, Klawock 21; 7 p.m. boys – JDHS 62, Cordova 39.

SATURDAY: 1 p.m. girls – Chugiak vs. Klawock; 3 p.m. boys – Cordova vs. Federal Way; 5 p.m. girls JDHS vs. Kenai; 7 p.m. boys – JDHS vs. Soldotna.

SUNDAY: 1 p.m. girls – Klawock vs. Kenai; 3 p.m. boys – Soldotna vs. Cordova; 5 p.m. girls – JDHS vs. Chugiak; 7 p.m. boys – JDHS vs. Federal Way; 9 p.m. Awards Ceremony.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.