There is always a little salt thrown into the basketball stew at Gold Medal and a few teams are feeling the sting after the first day of action in the 76th Annual version this year.

Defending C Bracket champion Hoonah found itself three jumpers shy of a win over Hydaburg and now every game will be do-or-die for them. Hydaburg, meanwhile, gets to jump on the court again Monday at noon against Klukwan, a team that was given a first-round bye.

The rematch of last year’s C Bracket championship game was a back-and-forth fight that was tied 59-59 with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter. But Hydaburg went on a nine-point run during the next three minutes and held off comeback attempts by Hoonah to prevail 74-66 in the teams’ opener.

“We just picked up our defense and tried to make it a little more tight, and tried to pressure their ballhandlers,” said Hydaburg’s Devin Edenshaw, who’s been playing in Gold Medal tournaments since 2001.

While a majority of the Hydaburg team have played together in some form, only three members from last year’s C squad are on this year’s roster, Edenshaw said. But he said he feels confident the team has the ability to avenge last year’s 75-64 title game loss.

“We lost to them last year, so this was a game we were looking forward to,” he said. “We’re coming into the tournament knowing we’re one of the better teams, and you just have to put the effort down and we’re going to be there.”

Hydaburg’s Devin Edenshaw continues to be a Gold Medal threat as he pumped in 29 points on attacking drives to the hoop and pullup short jumpers, while Hoonah went more for the distance game and hit eight shots past the arc, three by Anthony Lindoff. Hydaburg put four players in double figures. Hoonah had Travis Dybdahl continuing to be an icon in the Gold Medal tournament, scoring 21 points on a textbook shooting display.

•••••

Speaking of textbooks Kake’s B Bracket 82-77 thriller over Ketchikan was worth the read.

A player passes the ball between his own legs to a teammate trailing behind…another player hits from all four compass points past the arc…another player blocks a ball so hard it seemingly deflates…this is the Kake B team.

In an athletic contest up and down the court Kake held off Ketchikan 82-77 behind 24 points from Ethan Kadake as four players hit double figures, including Simon Friday who hit four past the arc in the second quarter. Kadake scored 16 points in the first half and Tracy Jackson scored all 15 of his in the second.

The least number of scores in the book went to one of the biggest in the game as Jonah Davis was a mountain in the middle disrupting a slashing and cutting Ketchikan team.

“It means a lot for us personally,” Davis said of getting the first game win. “We’re such a young group of guys, we’ve been that way for a few years. It’s hard for us to gain this kind of momentum. So it feels pretty good to get a win and hopefully we can keep the ball rolling.”

Davis noted the impact of their floor general Tracy Jackson.

“He’s a good guy, he’s been with us the whole ride and he shows us plays and makes smart moves. It is good to have him as a leader.”

Davis had an unofficial 10 rebounds in the game and two blocks.

“I’m just trying to play my role to the best of my abilities,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of offensive talent so for the most part I’ll leave it to them and be a rebounder and shot blocker and put back dunker.”

Ketchikan cut the Kake lead to five points, 76-71, on a pair of free throws by Juan Coronel and then to four, 77-73, on an Archie Dundas basket with four minutes left.

Kake’s Keontay Jackson scored inside but was answered by Ketchikan’s Seth Mars to pull to 79-75.

A turnover gave the ball back to Ketchikan, but Friday smothered a shot attempt and Kake earned the win with another set of free throws by Dominic Ross.

•••••

In C Bracket play Metlakatla and Kake went toe to toe and then some in a physical contest that left players shaking their heads but not backing down.

“Just a little bit of jitters,” Metlakatla’s Clifton Guthrie said. “Mostly everybody got off the plane today, we only had two guys already here. One guy showed up halfway through the game.”

Guthrie said of the physical play, “It’s village ball man, a little bit of rez ball, a little bit of structure, it’s fun, you know, kind of a battle of the villages. That’s what I like about this tournament and All Native.”

Guthrie said the team will take away this lesson from the game, “To play for each other. We want to play for each other. Just have fun. We have all played with each other for a long time, just trying to have fun, let loose.”

It is noted that Metlakatla has not won the Gold Medal in a substantial number of years.

“It’s been about 29 years,” Guthrie said. “That’s our goal, but you can’t take any of these teams for granted.”

Guthrie does not extend back to those 29 years, but he was on the winning eighth-grade Metlakatla team that won the middle school tournament in 2001.

“That was fun, and then they stopped doing that,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun being here. The best part is meeting up with all the guys you battled with in high school or down in village tournaments and stuff.”

•••••

A new entry in the Women’s Bracket is on a basketball and healing mission.

Hooper Bay defeated Angoon 77-17 in their first trip to Southeast.

For a first-time team formed as a healing act, the women’s team from Hooper Bay proved it is very healthy indeed in its debut game Sunday with a 77-17 victory over Angoon that was as dominant throughout as the score indicates.

Florence Kargi said she began efforts to form the team in January, after an effort by her to join a Yakutat team last year was thwarted by the tournament’s residency rules. But adding an element of solidarity was the lingering impact of two 18-year-old women found stabbed to death in a home in the Western Alaska village last Oct. 1. A 20-year-old man from the village was arrested a week later on suspicion of the murders.

“It’s more to them than basketball,” Kargi said of the team’s formation and participation in Gold Medal. “It’s more like a healing trip just to tell them life happens. It goes on, you know. You can breathe.”

But the team also has talent from a roster with plenty of former high school playing and coaching experience, Kargi said. She said they also play together recreationally regularly in the village.

“There’s not a lot of women and there’s not a positive sports for adults, but we all find each other and we stay in touch,” she said.

Hooper Bay will face Hoonah at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

•••••

Angoon began its B Bracket title defense in convincing fashion with an 88-68 victory over Hydaburg in a rematch of last year’s title game, although Hydaburg did narrow last year’s 31-point gap enough to remain within striking distance much of the contest.

A 42-32 halftime score in favor of Angoon grew to a 69-53 advantage by the end of the third quarter. The teams played a relatively even final quarter as Angoon was content simply to run time off the clock at the end.

”We won last year so we have our mindset as a winner,” said Angoon’s J.J. Nixon, who estimates he’s been in Gold Medal tournaments the past six to eight years. “Back-to-back, that’s our goal.”

But Nixon doesn’t expect all of this week’s games will be a cakewalk.

“Each and every team is really well,” he said. “They brought all their best players so this year’s going to be one of the best years.”

•••••

Craig, or Klawock, or Prince of Wales…just three names for a team that was told by Gold Medal this year they had to pick a town and keep the roster local.

Craig put a talented roster on the floor in a 72-18 win over Kake and will face Yakutat at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

“I think they just wanted to keep it in the villages,” Craig player, coach, mentor Tina Steffin said. “They had warned me last year I would have to choose Craig or Klawock. We came as Prince of Wales the last two years.”

And Prince of Wales won the last two women’s titles.

“We lost the Holien girls, they didn’t have any ties to Craig,” Steffin said. “They were bummed and went to Nashville, but they would rather be here playing basketball instead…most everybody else we can tie back to Craig…”

Kake did not let up through the entire game despite trailing throughout and by an increasing number.

“We’re learning how to gel together, growing and winning and competing,” Kake coach Carson Viles said. “When you are down big in a game you’ve got to take it a possession at a time and just stay focused and not let the circumstances grind you down or affect you.”

Kake picked up their defensive effort in the second half.

“I felt like it picked up,” Viles said. “Nerves calming down a bit. We have some players who got a little nervy there in the first half, so I think we calmed down a bit. I was definitely happy with our effort and communication in the second half. We’re trying to do Kake proud for sure so we’re going to come out and try to get a W next game.”

Craig advances to play Yakutat Monday at 5:30 p.m. Yakutat had a bye. Kake will play an elimination game on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

•••••

Sunday’s nightcap game featured an interesting mix of youth and veterans as Hoonah passed the century mark on the score clock with a 105-73 win over Klawock.

“Oh man this first win means everything,” Hoonah coach Travis Dybdahl said. “We’re bringing a couple new guys into this thing. We had a few days of practice, but you never know if it is going to turn out good, if we’ll be able to run plays correctly but they bought in right away. And so it was easy. We put some things in that most programs run as youth so it wasn’t too hard to say ‘hey, we’re going to do a press, it’s going to be this way.’ Everyone just nodded their head and said ‘yep, we got it.’ To yeah, it was pretty exciting….we’ve got a lot of young players, some good solid veterans and just everybody is humble. There are no egos, and I did that by design. I wanted to gel them right now while they are young, get them into that team menatlity. They come from good programs…Mt. Edgecumbe, JD, you name it, so they are used to playing as a team. But yeah, we’re trying to build a long-term contender for sure.”

Hoonah pressured Klawock from the start and held a 30-13 lead after 10 minutes of first-quarter action. On college vacation Sean Oliver hit two shots past the arc and another closer in during that first stanz, college junior to be Orion Dybdahl provided speed and strength inside and — fresh out of Saturday’s state tournament third-place win for Mt. Edgecumbe — RJ Didrickson hit the first bucket of the game from past the arc on his way to a team-high 23 points. The whole roster had a hand in providing the chemistry needed for the win.

Not to be overshadowed Klawock’s Nate Yockey tallied 34 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter.

Hoonah advances to play Kake in Monday’s nightcap at 8:30 p.m. Klawock plays an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

B – HOONAH 105, KLAWOCK 73

Quarter scores: Hoonah 30-13, Hoonah 69-37, Hoonah 90-55

Hoonah – RJ Didrickson 23 points (2Fouls), Orion Dybdahl 18, Kayden Lamebull-Ingram 16 (1F), Sean Oliver 12, Samuel Lamebull-Novguada 11 (2F), Levi Woodbury 7 (1F), Joseph Coronell Jr. 6 (4F), Tyrell Cromer 4 (2F), Malakai Nichols 3 (3F), Lincoln Johnson 3 (4F), Jaylin Prince 2 (1F). Free throws 8-14.

Klawock – Nate Yockey 34 (1F), Emett Fairbanks 11 (1F), Nevan Yockey 7, Tyler Coleman 6 (1F), Jason Scan 5, Deion Jackson 4 (1F), DJ Almenzor 3 (3F), Emil Nelson 2, Trae Marvin (2F). Free throws 12-19.

C – METLAKATLA 63, KAKE 53

Quarter scores: Kake 15-9, MET 24-19, MET 44-33

Metlakatla – Clifton Guthrie 21 (2Fouls), Jace Scudero 11 (2F), Brad Martinez 10 (3F), Apollo Marsden 10, Brian Hayward 7, Jason Enright 3 (2F), Chris Booth 1 (5F), Sid Brendible (3F). Free throws 13-21.

Kake – Kelly Brown 14 (2F), Rudy Bean 10 (2F), Shane Padgett 8 (4F), Derek Knudsen 8 (2F), Dean Cavenaugh 6 (1F), Trevor Rostad 4 (3F), Shea Jackson 3 (3F), Dylan Lee (1F). Free throws 6-11.

B – KAKE 82, KETCHIKAN 77

Quarter scores: Kake 28-13, 46-34, 68-55

Kake – Ethan Kadake 24 (2Fouls), Tracy Jackson 15 (4F), Simon Friday 12 (1F), Keontay Jackson 12 (4F), Dominic Ross 7, Brandon Ward 7, Jonah Davis 5 (1F). Tristan Ross (1F), Joe Ortega (1F). Free throws 8-21.

Ketchikan – Clayton Olmstead 23 (5F), Juan Coronel 19 (1F), Archie Dundas 15 (2F), Archen Seludo 12, Seth Marrs 4 (4F), Fredrick Seludo 4, Andrew Kleinschmidt (5F). Free throws 6-11.

C – HYDABURG 75, HOONAH 69

Quarter scores: HYDA 13-11, HOONAH 39-32, HYDA 57-55

Hydaburg – Devin Edenshaw 29 (1Foul), E. Hamilton 14, TJ Young 14 (2F), Darren Edenshaw 12 (1F), Joseph Young 6 (3F), Derrick Edenshaw (1F), M. Carle (2F), J. Washington (2F)

Hoonah – T. Dybdahl 21, A. Lindoff 15 (4F), B. Booze 9 (4F), J. Torres 8 (2F), B. Koenig 7 (2F), J. Cornell 3 (1F), PJ Lindstrom 2 (1F), T. Wheat 2 (2F), G. Fisher 2 (3F)

W – CRAIG 72, KAKE 18

Quarter scores: CRG 18-3, CRG 42-7, CRG 54-10

Craig – Lillian Borromeo 25, Nani Weimer 18, Molly Sharp 12 (2Fouls), Michaela Dement 12, Tina Steffen 5 (1F). Craig hit 6-8 from the free throw line.

Kake – Vanessa Brown 6, Monica Ashenfelter 4 (2F), Miakah Nix 3 (2F), Crystal Shaquanie 3 , Tessa Rostad 2. Kake hit 3-4 from the free throw line.

B – ANGOON 88, HYDABURG 68

Quarter scores: ANG 23-14, ANG 42-32, ANG 69-53

Angoon – Dominic Brandon 29, Aquino Brinson 16 (4Fouls), Jonathan Jack-Nixon 12 (2F), Clayton Edwin 11, Kendrick Payton 8 (4F), Greg Bennum 4 (4F), Isaiah Nelson 3 (4F), Christian Nelson 2 (1F), Duncan O’Brien (1F). Free throws 6-10.

Hydaburg – Vinny Edenshaw 34 (1F), J. Lane 13 (3F), Claude Young 10 (2F), Trevor Olsen 8 (3F), Donald Edenshaw 3 (1F), Tyler Bell (1F). Free throws 8-16.

W – HOOPER BAY 77, ANGOON 17

Quarter scores: HB 32-6, HB 53-8, HB 59-12

Hooper Bay – Susie Long 21, Brandi Hale 14, Florence Kargi 10 (1F), Ariana Lake 10, Lyana Andreanoff 10 (1F), Tenisha Smith 4, Zoey Lake 3, Ernie Joe 3 (2F), Mary Long 2 (3F), Sandra Lake (2F). Hooper Bay hit 4-8 free throw line.

Angoon – Kayla Woodberry 6, Mary Johnson 4 (2F), Erica George 2, Alejandra Paniagua 2, Jordyn Bennett 1, Kendra Feller (2F), Allyson Jack (1F). Free throws 1-3.

B – HAINES 85, YAKUTAT 51

Quarter scores: HNS 21-7, HNS 43-23, HNS 67-43

Haines – Kyle Fossman 15 (2F), Kirby Faverty 17, Tyler Swinton 15 (1F), Jacob Friske 10 (1F), Orion Falvey 8 (2F), Kyle Rush 6 (2F), James Hart 5 (1F), Kai Sato 4 (1F), Tyler Healy 3 (1F) Chevy Fowler (2F), Eric Brouillette (1F). Free throws 9-12.

Yakutat – Joshua James 13, Arthur Adams 12 (1F), Christian Adams 9 (1F), Robert Sensmeir 7 (2F), Wesley Porter 5 (3F), George Valle 3, Cody Jensen 2 (2F). Free throws 3-8.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com. Juneau Empire Editor Mark Sabbatini contributed to this story.