Crimson Bears girls finish sweep of Stars

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls earned their second win in as many nights over Soldotna, defeating the Stars 63-26 Saturday inside the George Houston Gymnasium.

The Crimson Bears faced a one-three-one zone defense by the Stars and never batted an eye.

“I was happy to see so many good things that we were doing,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “Just our ball movement, quick passes but around the horn reversing the ball and in doing so — and we keep talking about it — you shift the defense and more opportunities come available for shooting on the outside or just getting the ball inside.”

JDHS senior Kerra Baxter earned the first basket inside and Soldotna senior Anaulie Sedivy answered to tie the game, the first and last time the contest would be that close.

The Crimson Bears went on a 19-3 run to finish the quarter, with sophomore Layla Tokuoka hitting a shot from deep and another in close, K. Baxter going to the free throw line, junior Cambry Lockhart hitting back-to-back shots, senior Cailynn Baxter notching a short jumper, K. Baxter getting a steal and feeding junior Gwen Nizich for a deep shot past the arc, and Lockhart and K. Baxter closing out the quarter for a 21-5 lead.

“It’s a quarter of the way through the season and through the month I have seen us grow so much,” G. Nizich said. “Even like just closer together. Our team chemistry is elevating, and we know where each other are on the court and I think we are moving the ball so much better. We always keep our spirits up and work hard together.”

Soldotna junior Grayson Henry hit the first basket of the second quarter, and JDHS responded on an 8-0 run with C. Baxter and Lockhart each hitting two shots and steals by Lockhart, Tokuoka and senior Addison Wilson.

JDHS then put in a full roster substitution and sophomores June Troxel and Bergen Erickson, and freshmen Sadie Lockhart, Lydia Goins and Athena Warr put up a wall on defense.

Soldotna worked to close the score with baskets by Sedivy and senior Hope Hillyer, but JDHS’ Nizich returned to the floor for a score off a rebound and assist from Warr, and a shot past the arc on a rebound and assist from Troxel. JDHS led 35-12 at the half.

JDHS’ C. Baxter and Nizich kicked off the second half with a pair of baskets, and Nizich stole a pass and fed C. Baxter on a scoring foul against Soldotna that pushed the lead out to 45-12.

The Crimson Bears used their lead to rotate players in and out, and held a 47-20 lead after three quarters.

JDHS’ Tokuoka, S. Lockhart and Nizich scored to start the final quarter, with steals by Erickson and C. Lockhart.

The Crimson Bears held a 55-25 lead when Warr battled inside for a score and Goins tipped another rebound to keep it in play, and Warr put another shot in the net for a 59-25 lead.

“I am just so lucky to be able to be on a team with all these really good players,” Warr said. “Because even just sitting on the bench watching them is just so cool and I just learn so much.”

In her fourth quarter play, Warr demonstrated what she has seen in practice and in games.

“I think it just clicked for me a little bit more,” Warr said. “But I also am going to try to give a great pass to a teammate than score myself.”

A mixture of underclassmen and seniors finished the game, with Troxel stealing a pass and feeding Warr for a score, and C. Baxter tipping a rebound out to Wilson connected on a shot as the buzzer sounded for the final 63-26.

“Man, Athena posting up, demanding that ball, that is just a beautiful thing,” coach Nizich said. “The nice part about our seniors that we have is that they are so willing to work and help. They know the underclassmen are next year’s team and they are here working every single day just like everybody else and they are so willing to help out and energize them and make them better. They (seniors) know they have to work just as hard or harder for them (underclassmen) to make them better.

“I think our seniors are pumped and excited to progress in the season because they know we have some very important games later on. So they are taking these games and practices serious, they are taking them personal. They are working individually to get better on their own game every day and as a team. It is a unique group. They are all very competitive and they are going to do what it takes to be successful in the end. Just our seniors in general, their leadership, you can see that on the court and see it every day in practice. Addison is just such a spark coming off the bench for us, if we could start six people that would be a no-brainer.”

C. Baxter and Nizich led the Crimson Bears with 13 points apiece, C. Lockhart had 10, Tokuoka nine, Warr six, K. Baxter five, Wilson, Erickson and S. Lockhart two each, and Goins one.

JDHS hit 3-6 at the free throw line, Soldotna 5-17.

Hillyer led the Stars with 11 points, senior Brooke Walters had five, sophomore Teagen Kobylarz and Sedivy four apiece, and Henry three.

“We knew this was going to be a very good team especially as the schools merged,” Soldotna coach Rustin Hitchcock II said. “We knew the players on both sides and to put them together, that is very impressive. They have a great system. I anticipate very good things from them. But we saw it as a challenge and I think overall we played better from game to game, and got better through the second half of each game. Against that kind of skill, it is cool to see.”

JDHS improves to 7-2 overall and begins 4A Southeast Conference play next weekend at Ketchikan. The Crimson Bears also have wins over Cimarron Memorial, Nevada (45-21), Castle View, Colorado (47-39), Klawock (71-21), Kenai (57-13) and Chugiak (51-38) and losses to Santa Monica, California (62-48) and Westchester, California (52-30).

The Stars play in the 4A Northern Lights Conference, one of the state’s most difficult, with defending state champion Wasilla, Mountain City Christian Academy, Colony and Palmer.

“Next weekend we play ACS or MCCA, whatever you want to call them, and so this was good training for that,” Hitchcock said. “I think that this woke us up a little bit. We had a good win streak to start the season and now we get an actual three practices in a row for the first time since Dec. 7. So we are excited to get back to practice and get ready.”

Soldotna was undefeated this season in Alaska until traveling to Juneau. They also lost 65-28 on Friday.

The Stars have wins over Seward (38-31), Kenai (39-26), Palmer (43-41), Kodiak (53-37 and 63-38) and Ketchikan (32-30) and Point Loma, California (51-23) and lost to Paloma Valley, California (42-29) and University City, California (40-32).

Juneau’s junior varsity defeated Klawock on Thursday 33-31 and Friday 44-38.

Erickson led JDHS with 13 points on Thursday, Warr had nine, freshman Kyndal Saceda eight, junior Raynona Fraker two and S. Lockhart one. Klawock was led with 12 points from senior Lea Armour, junior Keira Sanderson had six, eighth grader Jayla Edenshaw and senior Kaiya Marvin four apiece, junior Taylor White three and eighth grader Alli Demmert two.

On Friday, JDHS was led by freshman Heaven McGraw and Saceda with 11, Fraker 10, freshmen Shandlin Frommherz and Adelyn Hartman four apiece, freshmen Aurelia Field and Ari Make two each. Klawock was led by Armour with 18, Marvin eight, White seven, Sanderson three and Demmert two.

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