The 4A Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls toppled the 3A Kenai Cardinals 57-13 in the second day of the George Houston Capital City Classic on Saturday inside their home gym.
The Crimson Bears were never threatened in the contest as they opened 14-0 run with a full-court man-to-man defense.
“I just try to not let my man score,” JDHS senior Kerra Baxter said. “We don’t really press, it is just full court man-to-man.”
Added sophomore Layla Tokuoka, “Key for me is being bigger than I am. I’m not that tall so I’ve got to be as big as I can when I’m guarding people…I think we are working better as a team and gaining composure, and we’re not going into the game thinking we are all that and we have to play through.”
CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC COVERAGE:
Day 1: Chugiak girls run past Kenai | Federal Way gets past Soldotna 63-40 | 4A Crimson Bears girls topple 1A Chieftains | JDHS boys beat Cordova
Day 2: Chugiak girls defeat Klawock | Federal Way wins against Cordova
The Cardinals put their first bucket in the basket with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter on a shot by junior Mckenzie Spence.
JDHS had eight steals in the first stanza from sophomore Layla Tokuoka, junior Gwen Nizich and senior Kerra Baxter with two apiece, and junior Cambry Lockhart and senior Cailynn Baxter one apiece that resulted in scores from the Baxters, Lockhart, Tokuoka and Nizich.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Gwen Nizich (11) scores against Kenai in the Crimson Bears 57-13 win over the Cardinals during Saturday action at the George Houston Capital City Classic in Juneau. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
JDHS led 20-2 after eight minutes and went on a 13-0 run to open the second quarter with scores by sophomore Bergen Erickson, the Baxters and Nizich.
JDHS led 35-4 at the half. Kenai’s two points in the second quarter came from a pair of free throws by junior Ellsi Miller with 32 seconds remaining.
“It has been super fun,” K. Baxter said of the tourney’s first two games. “The home crowd has been packed and it is fun to cheer for everybody. Everyone scored in the very first game, two or more points, and I thought that was really great. Everyone was really happy. Everyone is so hyped for each other and that’s the best.”
Crimson Bears sophomore Bergen Erickson knocked down six points off the bench in the second quarter and another eight in the third stanza.
JDHS led 50-10 after three quarters and both teams picked up their defense in the final eight minutes, with the Crimson Bears allowing three points and the Cardinals seven.
“We just have great girls,” Kenai coach Jake Songer said. “No quit in them and I feel like they did a great job of keeping their composure, playing hard…Juneau’s defense is smothering and they are just a very good team…Something we talk about all the time is we learn from everything. We learn from winning, we learn from losing. We don’t talk a ton directly after, we let everyone process, maybe get some film in and then we go back to it and we pick it apart and see what we can do better.”
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Kerra Baxter (22) works against pressure from Kenai junior Mckenzie Spence (23) sophomore Gracee Every (10) in the Crimson Bears 57-13 win over the Cardinals during Saturday action at the George Houston Capital City Classic in Juneau. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Erickson and K. Baxter led the Crimson Bears with 14 points apiece, Tukuoka added nine, Nizich and C. Baxter seven apiece, Lockhart, senior Mary Johnson and freshman Athena Warr two each.
JDHS hit 5-8 at the charity stripe, Kenai 4-6.
Cardinals freshman Bryleigh Williams and Miller led Kenai with three points apiece, Spence, sophomore Gracee Every and freshman Hallie Songer two each and junior Willow Graham one.
JDHS had defeated Klawock 71-21 on Friday. Kenai fell to Chugiak 43-34 on Friday.
Following is the GHCCC schedule:
FRIDAY: girls – Chugiak 43, Kenai 34; boys – Federal Way 63, Soldotna 40; girls – JDHS 71, Klawock 21; boys – JDHS 62, Cordova 39.
SATURDAY: girls – Chugiak 45, Klawock 25; boys – Federal Way 64, Cordova 31; girls JDHS 57, Kenai 13; boys – JDHS vs. Soldotna.
SUNDAY: 1 p.m. girls – Klawock vs. Kenai; 3 p.m. boys – Soldotna vs. Cordova; 5 p.m. girls – JDHS vs. Chugiak; 7 p.m. boys – JDHS vs. Federal Way; 9 p.m. Awards Ceremony.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
