One night after defeating Southeast Conference rival Ketchikan 61-50 in the first of their two-game road series, the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team fell to their hosts on Saturday 58-53 in the Kings’ Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium.

The split in games is a step in the right direction for the Crimson Bears as in three weeks they will be back in Ketchikan for the Region V Tournament March 6-8 and a best-of-three series against the hosts.

“It is going to be a battle down here for regions for sure,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said. “Our guys played well. Ketchikan played better than yesterday.”

JDHS started the night in a full-court zone trap and although it did not produce the turnovers expected, it did produce a say in the control of the game’s tempo.

“Tempo-wise it might have put them back on their heels a little more,” Casperson said. “And they didn’t get to push like they might have wanted to with concerns of turnovers and stuff, but Ketchikan still did fine with it.”

The Crimson Bears had shots past the arc from senior Pedrin Saceda-Hurt, and juniors Brandon Casperson and Kurt Kuppert, and a power shot by senior Ahmir Parker. Kayhi went through senior Marcus Stockhausen, who scored 11 points in the stanza and junior Edward Dela Cruz added a shot past the arc.

Kayhi led 14-11 after eight minutes.

JDHS junior Joren Gasga hit a three and a couple shots closer in to provide the Crimson Bears with all their second-quarter field goals, and Saceda-Hurt added two free throws to stay even with the Kings and JDHS trailed 23-20 at the half.

“There was a stretch in the first half where we got a little three happy,” Casperson said. “Some of those weren’t going and then we found some balance in the second half that kind of helped us out a little bit with attacking the rim a bit more and getting the ball inside.”

JDHS junior Elias Dybdahl made the most of his second-half opportunities, scoring all of his 11 game points in the last 16 minutes of action.

JDHS would give up 20 points to Kayhi in the third quarter, but still scored 16 points, including five from Dybdahl, Gasga and Saceda-Hurt and a single free throw from Parker.

No quarter was dominated by either team, but Kayhi’s barrage from past the arc was the difference in the third quarter and momentum going into the final eight minutes.

“We hung in there for sure,” coach Casperson said. “Just defensively, those threes are daggers when you are trying to maybe create some separation or build a lead, three pointers can be equalizers.”

The Crimson Bears trailed 45-36 starting the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, I felt like we didn’t rotate well enough,” coach Casperson said. “We were late to rotate. But we competed the whole game, we battled right up to the very last second…We certainly compete until the end and that’s a good sign from our kids. I like that a lot.”

For the second night in a row, the JDHS defense clamped down on Kayhi’s Stockhausen in the second half.

On Friday JDHS limited the Kings’ leading scorer to one second-half point and on Saturday Stockhausen was held to six.

“It wasn’t for a lack of trying,” Casperson said. “They run their offense through him. He’s a very good player, a very good scorer and we’re just trying to make it difficult for him, trying to keep him in front of us. Make him shoot contested shots.”

Stockhausen did have big first halves both nights including 15 of the Kings’ 23 first-half points on Saturday.

“It wasn’t really the plan, it is just kind of how it worked out,” Stockhausen told the Ketchikan Daily News. “They got me a lot of shots. I hit some, and I missed a bunch. It was just how things were flowing. We want to get shots from anybody who can get it in the flow, but I took some out of rhythm, so I need to work on that.”

Stockhausen also hit the first two points of the second half.

“Ketchikan came out working really hard tonight and they got Marcus going early, and he was causing some problems for us,” JDHS coach Casperson said. “We are going to make some adjustments and see if there is something we can do differently next time as he had 17 of their first 25 points and that is pretty impressive.”

Said Casperson, “Late in the game we trapped out of a man defense and that provided some opportunities for us with some turnovers.”

JDHS outscored Kayhi 17-13 in the fourth quarter with Saceda-Hurt and Gasga hitting from both past the arc and closer in, Dybdahl earning six points with power play inside and B. Casperson adding a free throw.

“I’m really pleased with the balance in our scoring and the opportunities that we are creating for each other,” coach Casperson said.“Our offense is based on spacing and trying to take advantage of the spacing we have. We’ve got some shooters that can knock down shots when they are given a little bit of room. It’s an equal opportunity offense that’s for sure. If we create open looks for guys we expect them to take the shots and we expect them to knock ‘em down.”

Kayhi had built a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before Stockhausen fouled out with 3:21 remaining to play thanks to the Crimson Bears’ B. Casperson driving to the basket. JDHS would cut the lead to four points late.

Kayhi hit just 5-12 from the charity stripe in the final minute when JDHS was forced to foul.

Kings senior Gage Massin told the Ketchikan Daily News, “Our leading scorer was out, but we all came together and worked as a team, just more passes, more ball reversals, just everybody working together.”

Coach Casperson said the difference between Friday’s win and Saturday’s loss was defensive intensity.

“I felt like ours wasn’t there right away tonight, and it was on Friday night,” he said. “We were present but I didn’t feel like we were as intense defensively. I also felt like they had a few more offensive rebounds tonight and that made a difference for them. We would force them into a tough shot and then they would get an offensive rebound, and those often led to points for them.”

Gasga led JDHS with 17 points, Saceda-Hurt added 13, Dybdahl 11, B. Casperson four, Parker and Kuppert three apiece and senior Ben Sikes two.

The Crimson Bears hit 8-13 at the free throw line, the Kings 10-19.

Stockhausen led Kayhi with a game-high 21 points, junior Edward Dela Cruz had 10, senior Gage Massin nine, and senior Jonathan Scoblic, junior Jozaiah Del Cruz and sophomore Zyrus Manabat six each.

Coach Casperson said the Crimson Bears’ nine- to 10-player rotation is “trusting everyone that comes into the game to be able to contribute…It provides lots of opportunities for us and we’re building that depth, and that capacity, in case there is foul trouble or what have you, or some guys will just have an off night, and somebody else can step up and step in.”

The Crimson Bears boys are 8-13 overall and finish conference play with a 1-3 record. They are ranked 16th in the state among 4A teams.

The Kings are 13-7 overall and 3-1 in the conference and ranked sixth in the state behind Grace Christian (Northern Lights Conference), defending state champion Bettye Davis East Anchorage (Cook Inlet Conference), Colony (NLC), West Valley (Mid Alaska Conference) and Service (CIC).

“Our guys are learning about being in tight game situations and I feel like we have learned a lot,” Casperson said. “We kept our composure. We focused on playing together and our guys are absolutely improving as the season has progressed.”

In the next two weeks, the JDHS boys and girls host Monroe on Friday and Saturday and North Pole Feb. 28-March 1.

Next weekend’s games will include focus on community outreach. Friday will be mental health awareness and working with Find Your Fire and Take Time Out To Talk and Saturday is work done through Cancer Connection focusing on childhood cancer.

FRIDAY VARSITY SCORING:

JDHS 61 – Gasga 14 points, Dybdahl 13, Saceda-Hurt 12, Parker 9, Casperson 8, Kuppert 3, Sikes two.

KTN – Stockhausen 14 points, Scoblic 9, Massin 9, J. Dela Cruz 7, E. Dela Cruz 6, Manabat 2, Henry Vail 2.

FRIDAY JV:

JDHS 40 – Zach Polasky 8, Keaton Belcourt 7, Snyder Zamora 7, Logan Carriker 6, Christian Rielly 5, Wrenz Del Rosario 3, Erik Thompson 2, Vernon Brewer 2.

KTN 72 – Vail 13, Tyrone Alahan 13, Bruce Johnstone 10, Rylan Hanchey 10, Manabat 7, Haydn McMahon 6, Finley Bisson 4, Tristen Lemerond 3,Blaine Garlick 3, Xavier Dalton 3.

FRIDAY C:

JDHS 51 – Aaron Lazo-Chappell 10, Del Rosario 10, Ryland Carlson 9, Micah Nelson 9, Polasky 6, Jordan Geary 5, Surin Pyare 2.

KTN – McMahon 20, Trey Biagi 19, Garlic 10, Bisson 6, Dalton 4, Alex Santos 3, James Iverson 2.

SATURDAY JV:

JDHS 54 – Zamora 12, Carriker 11, Hunter Carte 9, Rielly 6, Polasky 6, Belcourt 6, Brewer 2, Madden Mendoza 2.

KTN 51 – Vail 24, Alahan 7, Johnstone 6, Manabat 5, Hanchey 4, Isaiah Miller 3, Lemerond 2.

SATURDAY C:

JDHS 58 – Polasky 14, Lazo-Chappell 12, Wyatt Miramontes 11, Nelson 9, Carlson 5, Troy Edgar 5, Del Rosario 2.

KTN 35 – Bisson 9, Garlick 7, McMahon 6, Biagi 5, Iverson 4, Dalton 2, Clyde Lamon 2.