The Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain boys varsity basketball teams are undefeated at home this season.
Normally, that would be a great accomplishment at the beginning of February. Not as much this year though.
The Crimson Bears (7-8, 0-2 SEC) have been home for only three of their 15 games this season. The Falcons (8-7) have been even more absent from their digs, having played in the Thunderdome just twice in the last 15 games.
JDHS will test their homecourt advantage this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. against TMHS. It will be the team’s last time playing each other until the Region V Tournament next month.
JDHS’ February home schedule rounds out with games against Dimond (Feb. 9-10) and Ketchikan (Feb. 21-22).
After this weekend’s series, TMHS will ship off to Ketchikan for two games before returning home for a two-game series against Mt. Edgecumbe. They then host Ketchikan at the Thunderdome Feb. 23-24.
Since the last showdown
TMHS nabbed 50-45 and 57-48 wins over JDHS in the Falcons’ only two home games this season. Both wins followed a similar narrative: JDHS taking the lead in the first half but succumbing to the defensive intensity of TMHS in the second half.
Since that Jan. 5-6 series, the Crimson Bears lost four of their next six games. However, two of those four losses were by only one point.
“We’ve gotten a lot better over the last couple of games, haven’t really had the results we wanted, but we’ve gotten a lot better,” JDHS senior Kolby Hoover said.
JDHS senior Luke Mallinger said one of the keys for success this weekend will be clamping down on defense.
“Both games we had multiple 10-point leads and we just let them come back,” Mallinger said of the games against the Falcons.
Thunder Mountain has similarly had trouble finishing out games this month. Since its series sweep against JDHS, the Falcons have lost four of seven games. But three of the four were by five or fewer points, including one two-point loss and one one-point loss.
Remembering Kevin
Saturday’s game is “Sock It To Cancer” night in memory of JDHS basketball alumnus Kevin Guimmayen.
Less than four years after finishing his basketball career for the Crimson Bear, Guimmayen passed away in August from leukemia.
The team began thinking of a way to honor Guimmayen’s memory during a JDHS-TMHS series and decided to solicit donations for Cancer Connection, a Southeast Alaska nonprofit organization that supports individuals living with cancer.
Cancer Connection supported Guimmayen and his family while he was undergoing treatment in the Lower 48.
“He played for us and gave it his all. He graduated in 2014 and to lose a player so young, so vibrant and just such a great teammate and such a fun kid to be around, it hit a lot of people hard,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said.
One of the ways individuals will be able to support the organization is through buying special orange socks with Guimmayen’s initials and basketball number on them. Orange is the color adopted for leukemia cancer awareness. Approximately 120 pairs of socks will be up for sale at the game with a suggested donation of $20.
Although Guimmayen had graduated by the time this year’s seniors entered the program three years ago, they still have memories of him working at camps and playing at open gyms.
“He had a great way of leading without being rude, with being respectful to the people he was leading,” Hoover said.
Hoover remembered watching him play with bristling energy and says he is honored to play in his memory on Saturday.
“I think he was just a kid that worked so hard for the program and that we have to pay our respects to him,” Hoover said. “I remember watching him play in eighth grade and he was just always just busting (his butt), he was always working hard. So that was awesome to see — someone for me to look up to.”
Girls basketball
West Anchorage High School will be in town to take on TMHS tonight at 7 p.m. at TMHS. The Eagles then play JDHS the next two nights at 6 p.m. at JDHS.
The Lady Falcons plays in their third and fourth conference games of the season Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at TMHS.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
