Kaleb Tompkins did it all on Saturday to lift Juneau-Douglas High School over host Wasilla during the final day of the Doc Larson’s Round Ball Classic.
The 6-5 senior guard scored a game-high 31 points, with 14 in the final quarter, to lead the Crimson Bears over the Warriors 69-57 in Wasilla. Tompkins also pulled down 13 rebounds and dished out four assists on the night.
“Once you see a couple shots go in, the basket gets a little bigger,” JDHS head coach Robert Casperson said. “We got into some foul trouble, so that moved Kaleb to a position where he could post up a little more. He’s tried to expand that part of his game and today was the first time he was able to use it. He has soft hands and a great touch around the basket.”
JDHS point guard Treyson Ramos was second in scoring with 13, followed by Guy Bean with 10, and Bryce Swofford and Kolby Hoover with six each. Ramos also had four assists with just one turnover and had four steals for the game, and Swofford pulled down eight rebounds.
“I feel like tonight is the first time we’ve seen Treyson play this year,” Casperson said. “Tonight we got to see him shine a little bit and the other guys fed off his energy. He seemed comfortable and relaxed tonight.”
Wasilla’s Daniel Headdings led his team with 18 points.
The Warriors had problems finding the net in the first half, including from the free throw line where they made just 3-of-9, allowing the Crimson Bears to build a 28-18 lead at halftime. The Warriors blew up in the third quarter with a 22-point effort to cut the deficit to 45-40, but Juneau-Douglas (2-1) was saving its best for last.
“It was real tight up through three quarters, but we kept on them and it was really nice to see us take advantage of our opportunites,” Casperson said. “I saw growth tonight … in handling the ball down the stretch and we tried to take high-percentage shots.”
JDHS won the turnover war, giving up the ball 13 times compared to 19 for Wasilla, while making 43 percent of its shots on 26-of-60 shooting. Wasilla was 21-of-51 from the floor (41 percent). The Crimson Bears also were best at the free throw line (12-of-16 versus 11-of-19) and from long range (5-of-7 compared to 4-of-13).
The Crimson Bears will play in its annual alumni game Dec. 23 before the Capital City Classic kicks off Dec. 27 with a slam dunk and three-point contest. Games will commence the following day. The alumni game and contests leading up to the Capital City Classic are open to the public.
CORONADO 72, JDHS 53
The three-point arc was kinder to the Coronado boys basketball team than it was to Juneau-Douglas on Friday night.
Coronado, a team from Henderson, Nevada, made 11 3-point shots to best the Crimson Bears 72-53 during the Doc Larson’s Round Ball Classic.
Coronado guard Trey Hurlbut scored 18 of his game-high 26 points from long distance. Kennedy Koehler added 18 points in the winning effort, 12 coming from 3-point range.
The Crimson Bears’ (1-1) Kaleb Tompkins led his team with 18 on the night, followed by 14 from Guy Bean, eight from Bryce Swofford and seven from Kolby Hoover. Jordan Milligan and Sebastian Bradley scored two each. Overall the team made eight shots from long range — three each from Tompkins and Bean and two from Swofford.
The Cougars took a 40-33 lead ending the half, and were up up 58-42 after three quarters.
