Thunder Mountain High School senior Chase Saviers was named Thursday second-team all-state by the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches. Erik Kelly (JDHS) and Marcus Lee (Ketchikan) were the only other 4A Region V players selected for the 15-member team.
But unlike Kelly and Lee, Saviers and his Thunder Mountain Falcons did not make the 2017 ASAA March Madness State Tournament. With a mid-season 10-game winning streak, the Falcons were on track to return to their first state tournament — regardless of the outcome of the Region V tournament (two at-large bids are awarded based on amount of wins).
However, the Falcons lost five of their last six regular season games for a 13-9 record, setting up the possibility of missing the state tournament given a JDHS regional championship, which came to fruition last Saturday.
The loss was not taken lightly by Saviers, the team captain and now second all-time leading Falcons scorer with 1,110 points, behind only Matt Seymour.
The Juneau Empire caught up with Saviers Wednesday after school to talk about the season and his time at Thunder Mountain. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Juneau Empire: It’s been a week now since your team was eliminated from the tournament, I mean that must of have been gut-wrenching.
Saviers: Yeah, it was definitely a little disappointing, we beat JD the first night, we were feeling good, we had finally played together as a team a little bit, and then we didn’t play very good against Ketchikan and [that] got us out of our momentum. … It was definitely hard to end on that note. I had a lot higher expectations for us this year.
JE: What was the flood of emotions when you get off the court after the fourth quarter and you realize this is the end?
Saviers: Well, at first we still had a chance of going to state, so our [Winning Percentage Index] was high enough as long as JD lost — which didn’t happen. It definitely kicked in that my chances at state weren’t in my own hands anymore, but I was praying that I had a chance to go north.
JE: Even though you’re still stomaching not being able to go to the state tournament, what are you proud of this year?
Saviers: A lot of people counted us out. One of our star players Mahina [Toutaiolepo], he tore his ACL before the start of the season, and then Luke Clark didn’t play much for us this year because of his knee. So a lot of people counted us out because we didn’t play very well last year and we pretty much had the same team. … We went on a 10-game win streak which was phenomenal, everyone was having fun, but then the last month of the season I think we were too caught up in our record and our focus went otherwise.
JE: What were the things you focused on at the beginning of the season that set you up nicely?
Saviers: Just having a lot of energy and having our defense lead to our offense. I’m a high-energy player myself so the more … energy I have the more my team can feed off me.
JE: Which members of the senior class are you closest to and tell me about how that journey has been?
Saviers: I’ve played with everyone in the senior class since I was in like 6th grade probably. Riley [Olsen], Noah [Reishus-O’Brien], Zeb [Storie], and myself, we were always hanging out, we’ve grown up together. I’ve been best friends with them since like sixth grade. … It’s weird not being able to play basketball with them anymore. I could tell all the sadness in the area when we lost that game and it was just like, that was really it, that was the last game I’ll ever play with these guys — competitively at least.
JE: How long do you prepare for each season?
Saviers: Last year, about three weeks after we lost at regions, I was in the gym with [Coach] Blasco at 6:45 working on my shot, trying to gain some weight. I was in the gym constantly, at least a couple hours a day from the time basketball pretty much ended last year until this season.
JE: There was a game, I think it was the JD series here at Thunder Mountain, where he let you lead a timeout. How close are you guys and how close is that relationship?
Saviers: I’ve known Coach Blasco since I was young. He wasn’t my basketball coach to start out with, he was a family friend, and it was set in stone I was going to Thunder Mountain to play for him. Our relationship has just grown over these years. I saw him probably the second-most I’ve ever seen anyone (besides my parents). I was … always at open gym with him doing something he was helping me [with]. He had a lot of confidence in me throughout this year, but I also had a lot of confidence in him. He missed the first couple weeks of the season which was hard, but he got back into it and once he started to get back into it, it was a lot easier for [the team] to get back into it to. We have a real good relationship.
JE: Looking back to your freshman year and what you wanted to accomplish as a Falcon, how have you measured up to those expectations?
Saviers: I wanted to come here to win. I’ve always liked winning. It doesn’t matter if I’m playing good, if I’m playing bad, as long as we’re winning that’s what the most important thing is. My freshman year I got to cut down a net, that was pretty cool, but I didn’t really play. It was the senior class that carried us through that and I wanted to be that — I wanted to cut multiple nets down in my career and hopefully even a state championship, but I’ve fallen short of that. I know I’ve had a great career at Thunder Mountain but the winning aspect was definitely a big play that’s been hard to (accomplish).
JE: Given how fast you like to play and how small you are, how have you been able to remain healthy your entire career?
Saviers: I honestly have no idea. I drink a lot of milk. I’ve been fortunate not having too many injuries. I’ve broken a couple fingers. I think I broke two this year in games — just slight breaks. … Other than that, I’ve never had a serious injury and for that I’m really thankful.
JE: What does the game of basketball mean to you?
Saviers: I mean, I grew up with it. Basketball means more to me than it probably should (laughs). Growing up my brothers, Reece was the first senior to graduate from this [school]. I watched him. I watched Will Egolf when he was slam-dunking … and I was like, ‘Oh I can’t wait to play high school ball.’ My mom used to play a little bit in Parks and Rec. Everyone in my family’s played. My cousin Tanja — who was the basketball coach here — she played at UAA. So basketball’s just been a major, major aspect of my life.
JE: What is it mean to be the second-highest scorer in TM history?
Saviers: It’s definitely cool, it’s unique joining Matt [Seymour] and Jacob [Calloway], it’s awesome. I’ve got a chance to play with both those guys. I had expected myself to surpass 1,000 points coming in to high school, but I also expected a lot more winning like I said because points don’t mean anything unless you got the success to back it up.
JE: Other than Coach Blasco, who are the people you look up to?
Saviers: My dad, he’s always been getting me in the gym. He’s been my coach ever since I was little, he’s taught me probably the most basketball-wise that I’ve ever learned. I take it for granted sometimes.
JE: How has the student body been supportive of the team?
Saviers: I mean, I say it all the time, I think we have the best student section in the state. I’ve traveled up north and they just don’t have the amount of support that we do. Our student section has been great — always keeping us in the game — and that’s what really keeps up energized just the noise from them.
JE: Which players either at Juneau-Douglas High School or Ketchikan did you enjoy facing off against the most?
Saviers: Playing against Bryce Swofford this year has been good, he’s got talent, hopefully [JDHS] do something at state. But Bryce was on my HoopTime team growing up, he was our big guy, he was part of the starting five [of Hooptime] and everyone went to TM except him.
JE: What are your plans for after high school?
Saviers: At the end of this month, on March 31, I’m going on a senior exposure trip with other kids from around Alaska, for 10 days, going to play in front of numerous colleges. I want to go somewhere that I feel like I can get the best out of it and also get good schooling because I know that schooling is going to be what’s the most important. I’m not set on anywhere. I’ve been told Oregon’s awesome so that’s kind of where I’ve been thinking about but I’d also be alright with Washington. I don’t want to be too far away from home — probably stay on the West Coast — but I’m going to see what opportunities present themselves and go from there.
JE: What do you remember about the game you scored 40 points?
Saviers: It was my career high no matter what I was playing. I’ve had 30 10-plus times but definitely 40 points was (pause) different. … In the first quarter I knocked down a three and it was deep. I was told it was a bad shot, blah blah blah blah. … That’s at least what my brother said, he was going to tell me that it was a bad shot then it went in. I hit that one and I was feeling good, so then I made a couple more, and then the second quarter came in, and our offense was a little stagnant and I made a couple shots, and then I just started throwing up some stuff and it was just going in somehow. The second quarter I had like 19 points … I mean that’s more than I averaged this year in a game. The second half was a lot of free throws. I wish I would have made more field goals because I was feeling it that game, I only took a couple in the second half but that’s just how the game was and I was just fortunate enough to knock down my free throws.
JE: How long will it take for you to move on from the disappointing end to this season?
Saviers: It’s my senior year; it’s been good for the most part. Not being in the state tournament is definitely a big old bummer, it was definitely one of my goals for this year. But I can’t do anything about it now, I could have played better back then but I didn’t. So I just have to move on from it. Even if it hurts to talk about, it’s going to be hard to watch the state games but I’m still going to do it and go for the teams I want to win. I don’t know if it’s really going to go away completely just because I know we let this one slip and we should be up there, but I just got to move on.
Thunder Mountain’s Chase Savier drives against Juneau-Douglas’ Ulyx Bohulano at TMHS on March 3. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
