The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls defeated their Southeast Conference foe Ketchikan Lady Kings 52-23 on Thursday inside the George Houston Gymnasium despite an uncharacteristic first-quarter shooting slump.

The Crimson Bears missed six shots while Ketchikan senior Shyla Abajian and junior Kali MacManus connected from the field for a 4-0 lead with half a quarter remaining.

“We definitely came out slow,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “But also in the sense that we were just focusing on the three ball because that is what we were given.”

Ketchikan played a zone defense for an extended time and that bothered the Crimson Bears.

JDHS junior Gwen Nizich broke the slump with a shot past the arc to cut the lead to 4-3, but again the Crimson Bears missed nine shots before Nizich hit another deep shot with 37 seconds left in the first quarter to take a 6-4 lead.

JDHS sophomore Layla Tokuoka then stole a dribble and passed ahead to Nizich for a layup and the 8-4 lead after eight minutes of action.

“We did miss a lot of shots in the first quarter,” G. Nizich said. “And in the locker room we just discussed remaining collected when they come and pressure us, and just moving the ball more effectively and looking for that particular shot that is going to have a higher percentage than just throwing up shots that are contested.”

Kayhi continued their zone and JDHS continued to bomb away as Crimson Bears senior Addison Wilson hit a deep bank shot past the arc to start the second quarter.

“Just bringing in the intensity and coming off the bench,” Wilson said. “The sixth man brings in the intensity to the game, and I just try to be quick with myself and talk on defense, bring communication too.”

JDHS would outscore the Lady Kings 14-4 in the stanza.

JDHS senior Cailynn Baxter hit a free throw, Nizich connected on her third three-pointer, Tokuoka hit two free throws and then a shot past the arc and junior Cambry Lockhart hit a short jumper for the 22-8 lead at the half.

Kayhi’s baskets came from junior Kylie Brendible inside and senior Aspen Bauer on a drive.

The JDHS defense gave the Crimson Bears opportunities and the Ketchikan defense made those opportunities uncomfortable — the Lady Kings held the Baxter twins, Cailynn and her sister, Kerra, to just one point between the two.

“Honestly, that is the first game of my career I have ever played a zone for more than about one possession,” Ketchikan coach Kelly Smith said. “We are just trying to do different things. There were a lot of scenarios in that game. I don’t believe the final score represents the competitiveness of that game. Our kids battled. We’re so undersized and the scary thing about a zone is getting a rebound, and we got exposed on the rebounds. We have a hard time scoring, but our kids battle. As long as they can look in the mirror at the end of the day and said we worked as hard as we could, we’ll live with the results.”

JDHS’ K. Baxter came to life in the third quarter, scoring eight of the Crimson Bears 13 points in the stanza with Tokuoka notching three free throws and C. Baxter hitting inside.

Kayhi did not back down, scoring 10 points in the stanza as Lady Kings junior Kali MacManus hit a bucket and two free throws in the third quarter and Abajian and junior Kari Klinger connected from past the arc. The Kayhi hustle forced JDHS to match their intensity. In a sense, the Lady Kings awoke the Crimson Bears as both teams were diving for loose balls, crashing the rebounds, and hustling up and down the court with JDHS taking a 35-18 lead after three quarters.

“We don’t call them expectations, I call them requirements,” Kayhi coach Smith said. “Working hard and diving on the floor and that stuff, you love that, but that is just what we do. When we stop doing that I’m going to stop coaching. What I liked today was that the zone was brand new. We put that in on Monday. They responded and that gives us some ideas because the goal is to compete with these guys in three weeks. For a lot of that game, if we make two or three wide-open layups, in the first half it is under 10 points. We made some strides today. We weren’t really competitive at times down in Ketchikan when they were clicking. I thought we did a good job on the Baxters until they started cleaning up the boards and got us in the second half, but I think combined they only had two or three points in the first half…so I like that fire. We got a lot of little mistakes, but it is stuff you can fix.”

JDHS would rely on their bench strength throughout the game to compliment their starters and that carried over into the fourth quarter.

JDHS senior Mary Johnson scored to open the final stanza, matching a basket by Kayhi’s Bauer, and JDHS’ Tokuoka stole a dribble and scored for a 39-20 lead.

“We talked about finding ways to move the ball,” JDHS coach Nizich said. “Shifting the defense so we could attack the basket. I thought they did a really nice job of doing that in the third and fourth quarter, and just looking to score higher percentage shots inside.”

JDHS would close out the game with a 13-3 run, which started as Tokuoka forced a turnover on defense and then scored a layup in traffic.

“Layla is a very consistent player,” coach Nizich said. “She sees the court really well…A lot of people look at points all the time, who has what, but a kid like that, even if she is not the highest scorer if you look at the rest of her stats she is contributing everywhere on the court offensively and defensively.”

Tokuoka would then feed G. Nizich, who hit her fourth shot past the arc, K. Baxter had a free throw, C. Baxter had an inside shot, Wilson forced a turnover on defense and sophomore Bergen Erickson stole a pass and fed K. Baxter for a power shot and a free throw and Athena Warr earned a blocked shot on the defensive end and then scored the final basket of the game for the 52-23 win. Kayhi freshman Peyton Nickich had a free throw and MacManus a short shot in the stanza.

“Addison (Wilson), when she goes in the game, she is always a spark for us whether it is quick steals or even just being strong and grabbing a rebound or scrappy ball,” coach Nizich said. “She does her job well when she goes out there. Her job is go out and keep the pace and continue the pace because she has fresh legs…Mary Johnson did a tremendous job off the bench, very scrappy, blocking out on defense, going after rebounds and making plays…Bergen (Erickson) has been really stepping it up in practice the last couple weeks and she’s moving the ball well and looking for her open shots.”

JDHS was led by 14 points from G. Nizich, Tokuoka and K. Baxter added 12 apiece, C. Baxter five, Wilson three, Lockhart, Johnson and Warr two each. K. Baxter had seven rebounds, C. Baxter six, Tokuoka and Wilson four apiece.

The Crimson Bears hit 10-15 at the charity stripe, the Lady Kings 3-4.

MacManus led Kayhi with eight points, Abajian five, Bauer four, Klinger three, Brendible two and Nickich one. Abajian would foul out in the fourth quarter. Brendible would pull down nine rebounds in the contest.

The Crimson Bears girls improve to 13-5 overall and 3-0 in the conference. They were ranked fifth in the state for 4A teams before this weekend behind Mountain City Christian Academy (Northern Lights Conference), Wasilla (NLC), Colony (NLC) and Bartlett (Cook Inlet Conference). The Lady Kings are 6-12 overall and 0-3 in the conference and currently ranked 16th.

The two teams play again at 7 p.m. Friday (C team play at 4 p.m. and JV at 5:30 p.m).

The JDHS JV defeated Kayhi JV 37-32.

JDHS JV – Lydia Goins 11, Warr 8, Raynona Fraker 5, June Troxel 4, Sadie Lockhart 4, Kyndal Saceda 2, Heaven McGraw 2, Cassie Chenoweth 1. KAYHI JV – Kali Jones 7, Haley Warren 6, Ezrah Harney 5, Nickich 5, Lorraine Zapanta 5, Claire Ruaro 4.

The JDHS C team defeated Kayhi C 41-37 in overtime.

JDHS C – McGraw, Saceda 8, Chenoweth 6, Freya Shelton-Walker 4, Aurelia Field 3, Keirstin Johnson 3, Mya Hayes 2, A’hRyana Maake 2. KAYHI C – Zapanta 15, June Ripley 7, Marley Phillips 6, Cereniti Boendia 4, Ellia Guthrie 3, Kelly Wright 2.

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