Their games in Southeast have been mostly domineering, but now the top boys and girls 3A and 4A Region V basketball teams have a hearty task ahead of them as they prepare to tip off the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska State Basketball Championships on Wednesday at the Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls, 6-0 in the Southeast Conference and 19-6 overall, are seeded fifth and will open on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. in the AAC auxiliary gym against the four seed Bartlett Golden Bears, 14-0 in the 4A Cook Inlet Conference and 23-2 overall.

“I think we are as prepared as we can be,” JDHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “Practices this past week have been some of the strongest I’ve seen yet.”

Bartlett won their conference championship over Dimond 50-37 and also topped the Lynx in season 71-41 and 50-36. JDHS beat Dimond 62-48 and lost 53-43, both games in mid season.

Bartlett defeated North Pole 68-61 in their first game of the season and JDHS ended their regular season with two wins over the Patriots 59-29 and 55-26.

Bartlett lost to state second seed Wasilla 66-33 at the beginning of the season, and JDHS fell twice to the Warriors 65-34 and 46-30 nearing the end.

Bartlett defeated Chugiak 59-26 and 62-24 and JDHS topped the Mustangs 51-38.

Top-ranked Colony plays eight seed West Anchorage on their side of the bracket. Third seed Wasilla plays six seed Dimond and second seed Mountain City plays seven seed North Pole in the other half of the tournament bracket.

Said JDHS coach Nizich, “We are excited to compete at the state tournament against talented players and competitive teams.”

The five seed Ketchikan Kings boys (3-1 SEC, 18-8 overall) open 4A boys tourney play against four seed Dimond (11-3 CIC, 16-11 overall) at 4:45 p.m., also in the auxiliary gym. Top seed Grace Christian plays eight seed West Anchorage on their bracket half. Third seed Wasilla plays six seed Monroe Catholic, and second seed Bettye Davis East, the defending state champ, plays seven seed Palmer in the other half. Dimond defeated West 43-36 in their conference championship. West (9-8 CIC, 13-15 overall) had upset East (14-1 CIC, 24-2 overall) in their conference semifinal.

“We were in the Dimond tournament, we watched them three times, but did not play them,” Kayhi coach Eric Stockhausen said. “We have watched five other games towards the end of the season including the CIC tournament in which they won the title. We have broken down their sets plays and their motion tendencies. They are very athletic and physical, and rebounding will be key. They have an all-state DII-signee that is very tough and a bouncy athlete who can be tough to deal with. We mostly focused on being fundamental and in proper position. We got a lot of shots up in the last few weeks, and tried to stay healthy and have the freshest legs possible.”

The defending 3A state runner-up Mt. Edgecumbe Braves (7-2 Eastern Conference, 20-6 overall), who fell by two points (63-61) to Nome in the championship game last season, are seeded third this year and play six seed Kenai-Central (2-2 Peninsula Conference, 18-8 overall) to open play in the 3A boys state tourney

The Braves have a unique makeup this year.

Half of their team consists of state champion wrestlers — three state champions with Donovan Standifer at 285 pounds, Richard Didrickson at 215 pounds and Elden Andrew (outstanding wrestler award at state) at 130 pounds, a runner up with Kaden Herrmann at 189 pounds, and two state placers in Torian Dull and Lennie Brandell. They did not join the team for practices until Jan. 8, a full 35 days after the season began.

“It is both a blessing and a challenge not having your full team from the start, but at this point in the season our trajectory of improvement is still moving in the right direction,” Mt. Edgecumbe Braves coach Andrew Friske said. “Preparing for state has involved a combination of scouting Kenai’s games and continuing to build on our strengths, making small adjustments, adding a few surprises and keeping kids healthy and eligible. I know that Kenai’s Coach Rose is a very good coach and will have his team well-prepared for us. Even though we are ranked higher than Kenai, throw that out the window because anything can happen in March. We will go in with the mindset that we are the underdog and must be all-in from the tipoff. One game at a time. Overall, I feel our team is focused and we are all excited for the opportunity to compete for a state championship. With four new starters and only three players returning with state tournament experience from last year, we are a very different team with a lot of new looks.”

Second seed Sitka (8-1 EC, 21-3 overall) plays seven seed Homer on this side of the bracket at 8 a.m. in the AAC auxiliary gym. Sitka has defeated MEHS 71-66, 67-66 and 76-75 and lost 71-70.

Top seed and defending champ Nome (6-1 Western Conference, 22-2 overall) plays eight seed Hutchison, and four seed Barrow plays five seed Valdez, both games in the other half of the bracket.

In the girls 3A state tournament the eight seed Sitka Lady Wolves (7-2 EC, 15-9 overall) open at 12:30 p.m. on the main court against top seed Grace Christian (6-0 PC, 19-5 overall). Number four seed Valdez plays five seed Kenai in their half of the bracket.

“We’re ranked eighth going into state, so aside from watching film and being as prepared as we can for our first game, we talk a lot about having the right mindset and playing to our potential,” Sitka Lady Wolves coach Ryan Myers said. “There’s a freedom to being the eighth seed. Nobody outside our team thinks we have a chance, so we can only meet or exceed expectations. We won our regional tournament, so we definitely don’t feel like an eighth seed. The team is all healthy, and we’ve been improving all year, so we’re excited to see what we can do against the best teams in the state.”

Sitka defeated Mt. Edgecumbe for the EC title.

The seven seed Lady Braves (8-1 EC, 14-10 overall) open against second seed Monroe Catholic (8-0 Aurora Conference, 22-4 overall) in the opposite side of the bracket at 8:00 a.m. on he main court along with three seed Barrow playing six seed Kotzebue directly after.

The JDHS cheer team is looking to defend their state championship, for the fifth time in a row on Tuesday evening in the AAC. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the competitions begin at 6 p.m. The Crimson Bears have won the past four Division I titles. There was no cheer competition during the 2020 COVID break and Ketchikan won the title in 2019.

“Tomorrow is the state cheer competition and our team is excited and nervous,” JDHS cheer coach Carlene Nore said. “This year is a rebuilding year and half our team is new or has never cheered before, this makes it an unknown on how tomorrow will go. The team fell short at Regions when we dropped two stunts. This opened the door for Ketchikan to win. You don’t have a chance of winning if you drop, you have to be clean and that’s what we’ve been working on. Tomorrow is an opportunity to prove that we can hit under pressure and when it counts. It’s a growing opportunity to learn from mistakes, improve and trust each other. I want to see this team rise to the occasion and give their very best, if they can do that, they can walk away proud of themselves and their team no matter the outcome. We look forward to watching and cheering on all the others teams. It’s going to be a battle tomorrow, best of luck to everyone.”

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