Basketball is normally a game of momentum.
Friday night’s Southeast Conference boys basketball game between Thunder Mountain (12-10, 4-3 SEC) and Ketchikan (12-9, 4-3 SEC) was not a normal basketball game.
The visiting Kings maintained control for all 32 minutes of the game, taking advantage of a poor shooting night from the hosts to roll to a 57-31 victory.
“I think we just weren’t here mentally,” TMHS senior Josh McAndrews said. “We kind of expected things to go how they’ve been going here at our home court. But this a good humbling experience.”
TMHS came into the contest 4-0 at home with wins over Juneau-Douglas and Mt. Edgecumbe.
TMHS head coach John Blasco echoed McAndrews in his comments after the game.
“I think it was a humbling experience for us, to get beat by 26 and really have nothing going all night in front of a home crowd,” Blasco said. “I can only hope that my guys think about this overnight and come ready to play tomorrow.”
The same two teams play each other tonight with the No. 1 seed in the Region V 4A Tournament up for grabs.
After scoring 63 points over the previous two nights across town, Kayhi junior guard Marcus Lee scored a quiet eight. Sophomore Chris Lee (14 points) and junior Kyle Smith (11 points) paced the Kings’ offense. Smith scored three 3-pointers while Chris Lee had six 2-pointers.
“I think we were just playing for each other and playing together and playing aggressive,” Chris Lee said. “Everyone on the team can score and we just give each other the ball and play smart and it just goes from there.”
Brady Carandang led all Falcons scorers with eight points.
Throughout the game, the Kings swarmed junior Puna Toutaiolepo with multiple defenders in the post. In response, the muscular forward kicked the ball out to one of his guards, who shot 3-pointers in bunches.
The Falcons made two 3-pointers in the first quarter but only one in the second and third quarters.
“We had very few uncontested shots and I give credit to their defense for that,” Blasco said.
The Kings led 26-10 at halftime and 39-13 after three quarters.
“I thought we rebounded fairly well and that helped us,” Kayhi head coach Eric Stockhausen said. “We were able to limit their opportunities, especially early, and we were able to make sure they didn’t get a lot of high-energy plays that when this place gets rolling, this team can score quickly.”
Lady Kings 63, Thunder Mountain 30
The Thunder Mountain girls basketball team played the same school on Friday night and didn’t fare any better than the boys.
The Lady Falcons scored just three points in the first quarter in a 63-30 loss. Tasi Fenumiai scored 11 points while Andee Johnson and Tzadi Hauck added six points apiece.
Brittany Slick scored 16 points in just three quarters of work for the home team. Ashley Huffine scored 14, Madison Rose scored 10 points, Payton Smith and Hannah Maxwell scored nine.
The Lady Kings shot 22 of 32 while TMHS shot 8 of 17 from the free-throw line.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
Thunder Mountain’s Luke Clark shoots over Ketchikan’s Cody Kemble, left, and Kristian Pihl at TMHS on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. Ketchikan won 57-31. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
