The Juneau-Douglas High School hockey team showed no signs of rust from three weeks of no play on a three-game road trip in the Interior.
The Crimson Bears, who have set high goals since the start of the season, roughed up North Pole and Tri-Valley in three lopsided wins beginning Thursday at the Polar Ice Center in North Pole.
Senior Bill Bosse scored three of the Crimson Bears’ first four goals in a 9-3 win Thursday. Three other seniors (Ronan Lynch, Finn Yerkes, Owen Squires) also scored in the game, which included power play strikes by freshman Sam Bovitz and junior Ethan Welch.
We did just a really good job of just staying in front of the net and getting sticks on pucks,” JDHS assistant coach Matt Boline said. “I also thought we were really fast … and were able to maintain a lot of consistent pressure in the (offensive zone).”
JDHS swept a rare hockey doubleheader the next day, putting away North Pole, 9-1, at the Polar Ice Center, and Tri Valley, 7-1, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Patty Center.
“It was a good way for warming us back up after about three weeks of no hockey,” JDHS senior Cameron Smith said.
In the first game of the doubleheader, senior Logan Ginter deflected a shot from the blue line for a goal. The Crimson Bears were already in control of the game by that point, leading 5-1, but Boline said it was awesome to see everyone contribute to the win. Ginter was “grinning ear-to-ear for about 10 minutes,” the coach said.
“He might’ve been on his belly when he shoveled it in even, so it was a very hard-working goal,” Boline added.
It was JDHS’ only trip of the season to Fairbanks and North Pole, two communities with strong ties to the 14-year program. JDHS belonged to the Interior-based Mid-Alaska Conference up until this season, when they and five other teams (Soldotna, Homer, Palmer, Kenai, Houston) joined the Southcentral-based Railbelt Conference.
“I think we’ve been up to Sophie Station upwards of 20 to 25 times now,” Boline said.
JDHS hosts Homer at 8 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Treadwell Arena.
JDHS girls fourth
at Ice Jam
Down the hill from UAF, the Juneau-Douglas High School girls basketball team defeated East Anchorage 54-41 on Saturday to claim fourth-place in in the 2019 Ice Jam.
It was the best result the team could have hoped for after a Thursday loss dropped them to the loser’s bracket at the West Valley High School tournament. The competition in Fairbanks also included West Valley, Bartlett, Anchorage Christian Schools, Valdez, Lathrop and Eagle River.
JDHS lost to Bartlett 55-47 on Thursday before routing Eagle River 53-22 on Friday.
“I think that our defense was the key to us winning,” coach Steve Potter said of Saturday’s game.
In December, JDHS lost to East Anchorage 57-55 at the Princess Cruises Capital City Classic in part because of East guards slipping behind the Juneau defense for layups.
“Two weeks ago they threw the long ball a few times and we didn’t get back,” senior Catilin Pusich said. “So (Coach) Potter made us focus on running back to the key and matching up with our players.”
Pusich scored 19 points, Alyxn Bohulano had 14 points and Sadie Tuckwood 11 points on Saturday.
JDHS (6-2) plays at Ketchikan next Friday and Saturday.
“We just have to keep improving every game, it’s just a learning point every game,” Pusich said.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twittar at @akempiresports.
Juneau-Douglas’ Caitlin Pusich (22) attempts a pass as Bartlett’s Saravi Facine defends and Juneau-Douglas’ Sadie Tuckwood (4) and Bartlett’s Nyapar Mathot converge on the play during Thursday night’s first-round game of the inaugural West Valley Ice Jam girls basketball tournament at West Valley High School. (Danny Martin | NEWS-MINER)
