The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament is made possible by Sealaska Corp. Thanks to this sponsorship, this article —and all of this year’s Gold Medal coverage — is available online without a subscription to the Empire.
Haines and Angoon played an intense nail-biter of a B Bracket elimination game Thursday on the fifth day of Gold Medal basketball games.
Haines jumped out to an early lead, however, by halftime Angoon had managed to tie the score at 30. After the half, it was anyone’s game as the two teams traded the lead back and forth all the way down to the final seconds of the game. However Angoon eventually secured a 54-51 win.
Angoon coach Brenda Jack said she couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to work with than the members of this year’s Angoon team. When asked what her strategy was for overcoming the early deficit, Jack said in addition to putting her faith in the team, she put her faith in God, as well.
“They are a good bunch of guys,” Jack said. “Angoon B Bracket, they are hustlers, they want it, they are ready and they are so energized, this is them at their best. I’m guiding them but it’s all them, it’s my team. We had to get our thoughts back together and they wanted it, they talk amongst each other as a team, they’re just a really good bunch of guys, I love them. Thank God and thank you Jesus.”
Duncan O’Brien led Angoon in scoring with 20 points and Tyler Swinton led Haines in scoring with 17 points.
Angoon now advances to play against either Juneau or Hydaburg at 8 p.m. on Friday.
Angoon’s last claimed a B Bracket title in 2016, and is the most recent of the town’s 14 Gold Medal titles. Haines had won the last three B Bracket titles.
• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com.
