With the nightcap at Monday’s 76th Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament between B Bracket powerhouses Hoonah and Kake underway fans had spilled out-of-capacity seating to stand and cheer with every basket.

“These are some fantastic ball players,” an excited Aaron Isaacs Jr., 86, said. “They are.”

And Isaacs Jr. would know. The former president of the Lions Club (1979-1984) and at one time the Deputy District Governor for the organization, knows a thing about good basketball — that’s aside from the fact he graduated from basketball factory Mt. Edgecumbe in 1957.

“He wasn’t like Herb Didrickson,” daughter Tina Steffin said with a chuckle. She plays for the Craig women’s team and this is the first time her father has seen her play in Gold Medal.

Said Isaacs Jr., “I have never seen ball players like this. They belong in the NBA.”

Nearly everyone in the George Houston Gymnasium had seen the likes of the action on Monday evening.

Hoonah had opened with a 5-0 run, but Kake came back at full throttle for a 17-9 lead, thanks to nine points from Ethan Kadake.

Hoonah reacted with a 15-2 run to trail 21-20 after 10 minutes. The final Hoonah basket was set up by Kayden Lamebull-Ingram who drove through the key and passed to his cousin Samuel Lamebull-Mokovada in the corner who drained a shot past the arc.

“We understand that Kake is a tough team,” Lamebull-Mokovada said. “They have really good players, but we knew we had to come ready. We came up with a game plan and we just stuck to it.”

Part of the game plan was a full-court press from the outset of the game, and Lamebull-Mokovada and cousin Lamebull-Ingram — the smallest duo on the court — played the biggest.

“(Number) 11 is my little cousin,” he said. “This is actually our first time officially playing together. We grew up playing on the driveway, at parks and runs but it is really fun to get out there and play with him….we cousins, we blood, that’s my little brother more than anything, we know each other like more than anybody else, I really enjoy playing with him.”

Lamebull-Ingram who, if possible, was a step quicker than his cousin, said, “It has been a blessing. We’ve been playing together all our lives on the driveway growing up. So being able to play with him on an actual floor or full-sized basketball court has been a dream come true so far, definitely a blessing…I was just really proud of our guys, we stepped up defensively, we did what we were told to do and what we worked on. I was just happy with our execution.”

After Hoonah’s Orion Dybdahl scored on a physical drive and then rebounded and was fouled, hitting two free throws, Kake tied the game at 24-24 on a shot past the arc by Ethan Kadake.

Hoonah responded with a 10-2 run to lead 28-26, spearheaded by the Lamebull cousins, and Kake countered with baskets by Simon Friday and Kadake to trail 47-34 at the half.

Hoonah pressed their way into a 60-47 lead at the end of the third quarter, again with the Lamebull cousins, Dybdahl, Richard Didrickson and Jospeh Coronell in the mix.

JDHS 2024 grad Oliver was also part of the Hoonah mischief on the court, along with 2023 grad, and Edmonds College teammate, Dybdahl.

“I haven’t really got to experience college speed yet for a full game but definitely, as far as practice goes, yeah it is up there,” Oliver, a JDHS grad, said. “We like to speed up the game and get it going fast-paced, that’s how we like to play so it is going to end up like that. It’s pretty fun though.”

Kake played just as hard and it showed as players subbed in and out for rest. Hoonah would win 84-66.

“It was tough,” Kake’s Dominic Ross said. “I’m here playing with all my guys that I played with in high school. We have great chemistry, we’re a strong young group and I expect us to be in the championship Saturday. It was fun tonight.”

Hoonah advances to Thursday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal against Angoon. Kake plays an elimination game at noon Wednesday against Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. elimination game winner between Yakutat and Hydaburg.

M – METLAKATLA 77, KLUKWAN 68

While the last game of the night was laying the game to rest, the first game of the morning was about celebration.

It was happy birthday for Metlakatla Masters’ coach Tom Brendible as his team gave him a 77-68 birthday present win over an athletic Klukwan squad.

The Metlakatla boys even let Brendible touch the ball and the 62-year-old hit four shots past the arc to tally 12 points in the contest.

Metlakatla took a 13-11 lead after the first quarter as Willie Hayward hit three shots and a free throw, and Brendible hit two shots past the arc.

Klukwan turned the tide just a bit to take a 35-32 lead at the half with a long-range arsenal that included three shots past the arc by Andrew Friske, two from Dave Buss and another from Michael Ganey. Metlakatla kept pace with Hayward drawing fouls, John Marsden finding a shot past the arc and Danny Marsden battling inside for 10 points.

“Well we haven’t been up here in a while and I’m the one that got the invite for us to get these guys to try and come up every year,” Brendible said. “I’m the oldest one and it’s my birthday today…it isn’t hard to get these guys to play ball, but to travel it is. But these are the guys that said they would be here and we got the first win.”

When asked what was key for the win Brendible kept the answer short.

“Willie,” he said.

Then he added, “All of us…Archie did good, John did good defense, Danny is the big guy, I hit three or four threes, so kept the distance and that is all I wanted. They (Klukwan) crawled back, they are a good team too. Overall, we move on to the next game.”

Metlakatla scored 27 points in the third quarter to 14 for Klukwan and opened a 10-point lead to start the final stanza.

“That was the game to get,” Klukwan coach Dan Hotch said. “We need to gel together, we don’t play a lot together. A lot of these guys moved up from the C bracket from last year so we’re not familiar with each other. And then there were a lot of missed shots. We’ve got to start making the shots, that would have been the difference…Willie is a tough dude, and we are missing a couple guys that are coming in tonight so, we’re known to come out of the losers bracket so let’s hope it works in our favor again.”

W – HOOPER BAY 70, HOONAH 64

The Hooper Bay women won their second game in as many days with a spirited 70-64 challenge by Hoonah.

Hooper Bay’s Brandi Hale and Sandra Lake hit the first two shots of the game, but Hoonah went on a 9-0 run for the lead.

Hooper Bay got a shot of relief from the bench, and that shot came from past the arc three shots past the arc by Susie Long and another on a rebound by Hale for a 19-12 lead at the half.

“It is actually pretty cool,” Long said of having a hot streak from the field. “I like it.”

While baskets around the state are 10 feet high, gyms can vary.

“I think this one is a little bigger than Hooper Bay,” Long said of the George Houston Gymnasium. “I get a little more tired than I usually do. It has a lot more space to shoot though.”

Long noted that Hoonah brought a challenge.

“Their defense is very hard,” she said. “And the man-to-man but we got through it.”

Hoonah’s hard defense kept them close through the second quarter and Jonelle Stavland found a touch from deep outside, as did Melisa Fisher and Alona Howland.

Hooper Bay kept a slight advantage with Florence Kargi scoring from distance and in closer and Hale putting in the last three baskets of the half for a 30-27 advantage.

Hooper Bay would go on an 8-4 run to open the second half and a 13-6 run to close the third quarter up 51-36.

Hoonah would start to chip away at the lead with Stavland scoring nine points in a row to counter Hooper Bay’s balanced scoring with Kargi, Zoey Lake, S. Long and Ariana Lake and closed to 62-51 with three minutes remaining.

Larissa Dybdahl and Staland close the gap to 62-55 and then 62-57 on a pair of free throws by Krissy Bean.

Hooper Bay’s Kargi and Hoonah’s Antonia Fogg each hit a free throw and Hooper Bay’s S. Long and Fisher each a basket for a 65-60 game.

S. Long would break a press and pass to Hale for a score. Hale would hit two free throws after a steal by Sandra Lake for a 69-60 lead with 29.1 seconds remaining.

Hoonah’s Stavland and Fogg hit baskets and Hooper Bay’s Kargi hit a free throw for the 70-64 final.

“I think we surprised ourselves,” Hoonah coach Lucas Lindoff said. “These girls are young, they’re athletic, they play together really well but we just kind of came together. Some have played together a couple years so I think once we learn how to take care of the ball a little better and play pressure defense the whole game I think we will give ourselves a chance to be in any game…we dug in the last 10 minutes and started to realize we had some umph left in the tank.”

C – HYDABURG 108, KLUKWAN 67

Hydaburg found some long-range accuracy in their 108-67 C bracket win over Klukwan.

Playing in their second game in as many days Hydaburg appeared to still have fresh legs and wrists as they buried 17 shots from beyond the arc, 10 by Darren Edenshaw, six by Eric Hamilton and one by Joseph Young.

“We’re tying to get our defense in order,” TJ Young said. “And we are trying to share the ball a little bit better because we have a couple of good weapons, a couple good three-point shooters, so we’re trying to work on ball movement as often as we could. You see us fast breaking back and forth, we like to get transition buckets. Our half-court is not as smooth as our transition game.”

With Darren and Devin Edenshaw and Hamilton hitting Hydaburg has a strategy.

“You let them take their turns shooting,” TJ Young said. “We’re not beating up on each other if we miss the three-point shot because we know a lot of us can get hot at any time. If someone is hot we just keep feeding them until they miss then it is someone else’s turn.”

TJ Young found his game-high 24 points, all inside the arc, and while offense is often mentioned with Hydaburg their defense is often overlooked.

“We try to get stops when we need to,” Young said. “That includes flash-doubles…even if you are doing little hand fakes or whatnot, just to try and scramble the offense a little bit as best we could. We are a little bit long in the tooth so we have to have little tricks of the trade and you put them all together and we usually get a W. But it is super competitive this year so I’m looking forward to our next game.”

Hydaburg was up 39-16 after the first quarter and 60-34 at the half. Running time was implemented after Darren Edenshaw hit from past the arc for a 74-43 lead in the third quarter.

Klukwan’s Cody Hotch tried to keep his side in contention with a couple shots from deep, Jacob Hotch found some space on a drive and Levi Hotch and Alex Hermann added a couple scores but Hydaburg would continue on to an 83-50 lead with the fourth quarter looming.

“Every first game that you play you go through jitters,” Klukwan’s Ben Hotch said. “And you saw that yesterday with Hydaburg playing Hoonah (Hydaburg won 75-69) and they were able to pull it off. But today they were nonstop, they couldn’t miss. That’s kind of what we are looking forward to in our next game, hopefully we get rid of the jitters and come back a little more confident and get used to running up and down the court. Six of our eight guys haven’t played in a while. For us we look at it as a good first game, we take the beating, we learn from it and get a lot of understanding of where we need to improve. Hopefully we come back strong next game.”

B – ANGOON 77, HAINES 72

Another Angoon, Haines battle for the ages unfolded in just the second day of action with the Admiralty Island boys holding off the lads from the northern part of the Alaska Panhandle 77-72.

“Haines is a really good team,” Angoon floor general Aquino Brinson said. “They are trees, they are big. So we really have to work the ball around, play as a team and just have confidence in each other.”

Brinson would score 12 of his 14 game points in the second half, devoting the first half to defense and distributing the ball to sharpshooters Dominic Brinson, Clayton Edwin or JJ Nixon. Haines relied on pressure defense and a more patient offense to stay within 16-16 after 10 minutes and 40-32 at the half, with Angoon’s lead riding with A. Brinson’s running of the offense.

“I appreciate my team for having confidence in me,” A. Brinson said. “I work on my game a lot to where I can study what’s given to me to where I can distribute to the three-point line…we like to incorporate our big men too, to where we can dump it down low. That takes a lot of stress off us. Credit to Kendrick (Payton).”

The fourth quarter started with Angoon leading by seven, 59-52, and Kyle Rush cut that to five, 59-54, but Angoon’s Isiah Nelson hit from deep for a 62-54 advantage.

Haines Kyle Fossman would hit a pair of shots to close to 62-58, but Angoon’s Aquino Brinson would be fouled on a shot past the arc and hit all three free throws and add a driving basket on the next possession for a 67-58 lead, and Clayton Edwin made that 69-58.

Haines would work back to a 69-66 deficit on a basket by Jacob Friske and two free throws by Kirby Faverty with two minutes to play. Dominic Brinson found a spot past the arc and took a pass from A. Brinson for 72-66 lead. A. Branson would take a pass on a steal from D. Brandon for 74-66.

A shot past the arc by Haines’ Faverty with 42 seconds left and another by Fossman with seven seconds left were answers to free throws by Angoon’s D. Brinson, the last two with 1.6 on the clock and the game iced.

“I think we played a really good game, and I think one of the big differences was they just hit a few shots and we didn’t,” Haines coach Steve Fossman said. “So next game I don’t think we will do a whole lot different, just play them head to head, make a couple small adjustments but they hit some big shots. We’ll talk about it and make a couple adjustments…they are a good team, hopefully we get another crack at them.”

M – SITKA 63, ANGOON 36

Sitka had six players find the scorebook in the first quarter in their 63-36 Master’s Bracket win over Angoon as players struggled to warm up after a fire alarm delayed the start of the game.

Tom Anderson found his stroke from past the arc twice in the first stanza, Efren Arce and Jeremy Plank once and Mitch More and Gary Smith both had six points as Sitka opened a 26-5 lead after 10 minutes.

Sitka led 45-15 at the half.

Angoon had a better third quarter as Byron Jack Jr., Dim Johnson and Travis See warmed up but Sitka kept control of the game for the 63-36 final.

W – CRAIG 53, YAKUTAT 41

Craig seemed to have no tired legs in their second game in two days and got past Yakutat 53-41 to earn a semifinal berth against Hooper Bay on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Yakutat was the aggressor with a 10-7 first-quarter lead behind two shots past the arc from Nadine Fraker and two inside from Janie Jensen.

Craig hit nothing but past the arc in the second quarter getting two shots apiece from long range by Nani Weiner and Michaela Demmert, and one from Lillian Borromeo. Demmert’s second shot from distance came at the halftime buzzer.

The teams continued to have patience on offense with Craig’s Borromeo and Weiner notching five points apiece in the third quarter to take a 35-34 advantage with 10 minutes left in the game.

Kim Armendariz gave Yakutat the 35-34 lead to open the final stanza but Craig’s Borromeo hit a free throw and Weiner from distance for a 38-35 lead and then ran off a 9-0 spurt for a 49-35 lead with time winding down. Yakutat’s Rose Fraker would hit two shots from past the arc to close out their scoring and Craig’s Demmert hit the final basket for the 53-41 win.

Yakutat plays in an elimination game Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

C – METLAKATLA 49, YAKUTAT 47

Leading 44-39 with 2:12 remaining to play Metlakatla looked to control the ball for the win, but Yakutat put pressure across the court and rebounded a missed shot.

Yakutat’s Jimmy Jensen was fouled and hit two free throws to close to 44-41.

On the next possession Yakutat’s Baily Johnson stole a ball from Metlakatla’s Chris Bryant who chased down the thief and blocked his shot.

“I wouldn’t say nerves,” Bryant said. “It was nice to be in an intense environment again. It was just like an instinct to go on and make the next play. I didn’t have time to get down on myself so I just wanted to turn around and make sure he didn’t score. I was actually pretty angry.”

The teams would exchange steals again, but Bryant was fouled and hit two free throws for a 46-41 lead.

Derek James hit from past the arc on an assist by Jensen to close to 46-43 and Adam Johnson added a free throw to close to 46-44 with 37 seconds left to play.

Metlakatla’s Jason Enright hit one free throw for 47 and on their next possession Chris Booth hit one free throw for 48.

Yakutat’s Martin Sensmeier hit a big three with 2.1 seconds remaining to close to 48-47 and a final point was found by Metlakatla for the 49-47 final.

Not big enough,” Sensimeir said of his shot. “I think we just need to keep working the ball around. Have good team passing and stay aggressive on defense and stay positive. We’ve got a good squad. The guys look good, so if we stay positive and keep working the ball I think we’ve got a chance. There’s no reason we couldn’t have gotten that game. I think it just got away from us. Got to give credit to Metlakatla, they played hard, they played tough D and they hit some tough shots. That’s basketball.”

Metlakatla advances to play Hydaburg in a Thursday semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Metlakatla plays Tuesday against Hoonah in a 7 p.m. elimination game.

B – HOONAH 84, KAKE 66

Quarter scores: KAKE 21-20, Hoonah 47-34, Hoonah 67-50

Hoonah – Orion Dybdahl 14, S. Lamebull-Mokovada 13 (2F), RJ Didrickson 13, Tyrell Cramer 9 (1F), Jospeh Cornell Jr. 8, Lamebull-Ingram 8, Jayline Prince 8, Sean Oliver 7 (5F), Malaki Nichols 2 (2F), Levi Woodbury 2. Hoonah went 12-25 at the line.

Kake – Dominic Ross 19, Ethan Kadake 17, Simon Friday 15, Keontay Jackson 6 (6F), Brandon Ward 5 (4F), Tracy Jackson 3 (4F), Jonah Smith 1. Kake hit 7-11 from the line.

M – METLAKATLA 77, KLUKWAN 68

Quarter scores: MET 13-11, KLWK 35-33, MET 59-49

Metlakatla – Willie Hayward 31 (2F), Danny Marsden 23 (1F), Tom Brendible 12 (1F), Archie Dundas 8 (2F), John Marsden 3 (1F). Metlakatla hit 10-14 at the line.

Klukwan – Andrew Friske 22 (3F), Michael Ganey 21 (2F), Dave Buss 11 (1F), Scott Forbes 9 (5F), Erik McCormick 3 (2F). Klukwan hit 3-6 at the line.

W – HOOPER BAY 70, HOONAH 64

Quarter scores: HB 19-12, HB 30-27, HB 51-36

Hooper Bay – Brandi Hale 22 points, Florence Kargi 17 (3Fouls), Susie Long 14 (4F), Mary Long 6 (3F), Ernie Joe 3, Ariana Lake 2, Iyana Andreanoff 2 (3F), Sandra Lake 2 (5F), Zoey Lake 2. Hooper Bay hit 4-7 at the free throw line.

Hoonah – Jonelle Stavland 20 (2F), Antonia Fogg 17 (1F), Melisa Fisher 11 (1F), Alona Howland 10 (4F), Larissa Dybdahl 4 (2F), Krissy Bean 2 (2F). Hoonah hit 15-23 at the free throw line.

C – HYDABURG 108, KLUKWAN 67

Quarter scores: HYD 39-16, HYD 60-34, HYD 83-50

Hydaburg – Darren Edenshaw 39, Eric Hamilton 24 (5F), TJ Young 24 (1F), Joseph Young 9, Devin Edenshaw 6, James Washington 4, Nathan Olsen 2 (4F). Hydaburg hit 5-5 from the line.

Klukwan – Cody Hotch 21, Ale Hermann 15, Kent Carson 10, Jacob Hotch 7 (2F), Larry Hotch 6, Jeffrey Klanott 3, Ben Htoch 3 (1F), Levi Hotch 2 (1F). Klukwan hit 6-8 at the line.

B – ANGOON 77, HAINES 72

Quarter scores: ANG 16-14, ANG 40-32, ANG 59-52

Angoon – Dominic Brinson 21 (2F), Clayton Edwin 19 (3F), JJ Nixon 14 (2F), Aquino Brinson 14 (3F), Kendrick Payton 4 (5F), Christian Nelson 3, Gregory Bennum 2, Duncan O’Brien (2F). Angoon hit 23-30 at the line.

Haines – Kyle Fossman 26 (4F), Tyler Swinton 18 (3F), Kirby Faverty 10, Jacob Friske 7 (4F), Kyle Rush 5 (1F), Orion Falvey 4 (2F), Chevy Fowler (1F), Kai Sato (2F), James Hart (2F). Haines hit 9-14 from the line.

M – SITKA 63, ANGOON 36

Quarter scores: SIT 26-5, 45-15, 53-27

Sitka – Gary Smith 14, Mitch Mork (1F), Tom Anderson 12 (1F), Syd Eubanks 8 (1F), Jeremy Plank 6 (1F), Efren Arce 5, Justin Bagley 3, Matt Love 2, Cliff Richter (2F), Ray Kitka (2F). Sitka hit 2-8 from the line.

Angoon – Travis See 10 (2F), Kenny Willard 6, Dim Johnson 6, Byron Jack Jr 5 (2F), Marti Fred 4 (2F), Kyle Johnson Sr 3 (1F). Angoon hit 2-6 from the line.

W – CRAIG 53, YAKUTAT 41

Quarter scores: YAK 10-7, YAK 25-24, CRG 34-33

Craig – Nani Weiner 20, Lillian Borromeo 16, Michaela Demmert 11 (1F), Tina Steffen 6 (3F), Molly Sharp (4F). Craig hit 10-18 at the free throw line.

Yakutat – Nadine Fraker 13 (5F), Rose Fraker 8 (2F), Cheyenne Latu 7, Janie Jensen 6, Shaye Jensen 3 (2F), Kim Armendariz 2 (2F), Trinity Jackson 2 (4F), Lorena Williams (4F).

C – METLAKATLA 49, YAKUTAT 47

Quarter scores: Yak 15-9, Yak 25-18, Yak 33-28

Metlakatla – Chris Bryant 13 (3F), Jace Scudero 9 (4F), Apollo Marsden 5 (1F), Jason Enright 5 (3F), Ian Hudson 4 (2F), Bradley Martinez 4, Sid Brendible 3 (1F), Clifton Guthrie 3 (2F), Brian Hayward 2 (3F), Chris Booth 1 (1F). Metlakatla hit 9-22 from the line.

Yakutat – Martin Sensmeier 10 (5F), Derek James 8, Jimmy Jensen 8 (5F), Alan Valle 7 (4F), Dustin Endicott 6 (1F), Jaysen Sinner 4, Adam Johnson 3 (3F), Ralph Wolfe 1. Yakutat hit 5-15 from the line.

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