The Juneau-Douglas High School girls squad established dominance over their crosstown rivals Thunder Mountain in their Tuesday season opener at the Capital City Classic.
JDHS bested the Falcons 60-30 by overwhelming the younger team early with a full court press while keeping the game out of reach late with the healthy scoring from their top offensive players.
Junior Cassie Dzinich — who put up 13 on the night — said she’s happy with the team’s ability to score in transition and push the tempo. While the team won’t “force” fastbreak opportunities if they aren’t there, they were there Tuesday night and the Crimson Bears capitalized.
“We didn’t set up in our half court offense much, but we didn’t force the run and gun,” Dzinich said. “I’m really pleased with our first performance. We really worked well together and had fun.”
Freshman Kendyl Carson led the team with 18 points, followed by Dzinich’s 13 and sophomore Caitlin Pusich’s 12.
Sophomore Nina Fenumiai led the Falcons with 12 points, followed by Charlee Lewis with nine and Tasi Fenumiai with four.
Falcons coach Chandler Christenson said her team started slow and didn’t bring the defensive intensity they needed to compete. Next time the two teams meet she expects a different game.
“Our defensive intensity wasn’t what we expected it to be,” Christenson said. “We started slow and if we played the whole game like we did in the second half, maybe things would be different. … I saw some good things just with their passion and will to get better.”
The Crimson Bears started with man coverage and their trademark full court press, allowing them to rush to a 25-3, second-quarter lead and hold Fenumiai — who handled backcourt duties for the Falcons in Cyrene Uddipa’s absence — to just two points in the first quarter.
JDHS transitioned to a less-familiar zone defense late in the game, a scheme the Crimson Bears would like to improve — and one that allowed TMHS a little more breathing room in the second half.
“I’m a defensive minded coach, that’s 100 percent of my focus,” JDHS head coach Lesslie Knight said. “I want to contain teams and I felt like we allowed them to penetrate our zone defense and I wasn’t happy about that.”
Other game notes: Dzinich played her first game without a knee brace since suffering an ACL tear more than a year ago, looking agile on both sides of the post and using her increased mobility to score in transition. The Crimson Bears scored four three pointers in the game, including two from Pusich in the first-quarter.
CRIMSON BEARS 60,
FALCONS 30
Juneau-Douglas 19 15 15 11 — 60
Thunder Mountain 3 10 7 10 — 30
Juneau-Douglas (60) — Tuckwood 2, Carson 18, Bohulano
5, Pusich 12, Dzinich 13, Robinson 2, Bathija 2, Balovich 2, Hickok 2, McAdams 2.Thunder Mountain (30) — Lewis 9, Kish 2, Luna 1, T. Fenumiai 4, N. Fenumiai 12, Jenkins-Hayes 2.
3-point goals — Juneau-Douglas 4 (Pusich 2, Carson 2), Thunder Mountain 0
Team fouls — Juneau-Douglas 20, Thunder Mountain 13
Other Tuesday Capital City Classic play
Boys
LYNX 89, KNIGHTS (CO) 14
Dimond 35 27 12 15 — 89
Valor Christian 3 1 10 0 — 14
Dimond (89) — Heim 6, Gates-Magnuson 8, Osborne 14, Parker 6, Boese 10, Moore 10, Horning 7, Jenkins 8, Ainuu 10, White 10.
Valor Christian (14) — Botsford 8, Taylor 1, Littlejohn 3, Darling 2.3-point goals — Dimond 10 (Heim 2, Gates-Magnuson 2, Osborne 2, Boese 2, Moore, Horning), Valor Christian 3 (Botsford 2, Littlejohn 1)
Team fouls — Dimond 7, Valor Christian 2
Girls
MOOSE 40, CHARGERS (WA) 63
Palmer 10 6 12 12 — 40
Marysville 15 14 14 20 — 63
Palmer (40) — Pettingill 2, Busbey 7, Bowman 5, Suaava 14, Ushmann 5, Alley 4, Dixon 3.Marysville (63) — Noriega 8, Norton 8, Wika 10, G. Grandbois 15, Green 2, Palm 4, M. Grandbois 10, Hammer 3, Taylor 3.
3-point goals — Palmer 2 (Busbey, Bowman), Marysville 3 (Noriega, G. Grandbois, M. Grandbois)
Team fouls — Palmer 17, Marysville 11.
Juneau-Douglas’ Kendyl Carson steals the ball from Thunder Mountain’s Nina Fenumiai in the Capital City Classic at JDHS on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016.
