The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament is made possible by Sealaska Corp. Thanks to this sponsorship, this article —and all of this year’s Gold Medal coverage — is available online without a subscription to the Empire.
Hydaburg had a game plan to stifle the height of Haines in their B Bracket clash in the Juneau Lions Club 74th Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on Monday night – chop them down.
Hydaburg used an athletic core of fast-paced guards and battle tested forwards to thwart Haines’ big man Tyler Swinton and turn a 38-30 half time deficit into a 75-57 win.
“Just attack,” Hydaburg’s Darren Edenshaw said. “Keep attacking him (Swinton) and trying to get him in foul trouble that was kind of our game plan for today. We were focused on help side defense and helping off on him every time. That was our plan.”
Edenshaw pulled down nine rebounds in the game and teammate George Peratrovich had 10.
Hydaburg carried a balanced scoring attack in the first half as well, with seven players finding the score book. Jaren Carle and Edenshaw had two baskets apiece in the first quarter and Edenshaw and George Peratrovich pulled down two rebounds apiece.
Hydaburg’s Greg Frisby brings his arm down to poke the ball loose before Haines’ Tyler Swinton can turn a long outlet pass into points. Aggressive second half defense (and a hefty dose of scoring from Vinnie Edenshaw) helped Hydaburg earn another Gold Medal win on Monday. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Haines’ Dylan Swinton tallied seven points in the first quarter and Tyler Swinton followed a shot at the buzzer to give Haines a 16-15 advantage after 10 minutes of action.
Hydaburg’s Claud Young carried some of the scoring load in the second quarter with six points in the paint and Darren Edenshaw struck from deep twice.
Haines forced the ball in the direction of Tyler Swinton in the second quarter and the big man hit twice from past the arch, three times from a bit closer and went to the free throw line for another handful to push the halftime advantage in their favor, 38-30.
“Just trying to play hard defense and boxing out all the time,” Hydaburg’s Peratrovich said. “Keep putting pressure on them. Constant pressure and hopefully, eventually, they’ll get tired. They didn’t really have much of a bench, they couldn’t sub him out. I figured if we could shut him (Tyler Swinton) down and let the other guys try to beat us it would be hard for them to be in the game with us. That was the goal. Box them out and keep them off the rebounds, get as many boards as we could.”
Hydaburg’s Vinnie Edenshaw came to life in the second half after tallying just 3 points in the first 20 minutes of action. The smallest player on the court drew an offensive foul against Haines and then proceeded to score twice from distance and five times from the free throw line, while Jaren Carle and Darren Edenshaw each put in a shot from past the arch and another inside for a 57-48 lead after three quarters of action.
Hydaburg’s Darren Edenshaw scored the first basket of the fourth quarter for a 59-47 advantage and Haines would not get closer than 10 points for the remainder of play as Vinnie Edenshaw hit nine straight points, Jaren Carle four straight free throws and Greg Frisby a shot past the arch.
Hydaburg’s TJ Young hoists a contested shot in the restricted area in the first half of Hydaburg’s 18-point win against Haines. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Haines’ Kai Sato Franks closed out the scoring with a deep shot past the arch but Hydaburg took the win 75-57.
“We just got super stagnant on offense,” Haines coach Stuart Dewitt said. “We were trying to focus on getting it to Tyler (Swinton) instead of moving it around. Guys have got to take shots when they are open. We got a couple guys coming in and we played good enough defense to win I think but Vinnie (Edenshaw) got hot. When Vinnie gets hot there is not much you can do… hope he doesn’t get hot I guess. We’ll be fine.”
Vinnie Edenshaw led Hydaburg with 25 points, Darren Edenshaw added 18, Carle 14, Young eight, Frisbi five, Devin Edenshaw three and Perotrovich two.
Hydaburg hit 15-20 at the free throw line, Haines 10-17.
Tyler Swinton led Haines with 28 points, Dylan Swinton 11, Sato-Franks seven, Max Graham six, Bryce Wortman four and James Hart one.
Hydaburg advances to play Juneau in a Thursday semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Haines plays an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Haines won the last three B Bracket championships: in 2017 topping Hoonah in overtime 79-73; in 2018 coasting past Klukwan 83-66; and in 2019 nipping Angoon 88-80.
Hydaburg last won the B Bracket in 2015 with a 94-56 victory over Metlakatla.
