Andrew Friske and Kamal Lindoff may not have won the Gold Medal Tournament this year, but they received the applause fitting of a champion on Friday at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé.
Friske, from Haines, was awarded the Walter A. Soboleff Award, and Lindoff, from Hoonah, was inducted into the Gold Medal Hall of Fame.
“We need to keep together as a community of Southeast,” Friske said in a brief and emotional speech.
[Photos: Gold Medal Basketball Championship Games]
Friske has participated in the tournament for several decades and helped resurrect one of Sitka’s popular basketball tournaments that servers as a warm-up for Gold Medal.
Lindoff has played for Hoonah since 1994 and won numerous championships and sportsmanship awards.
B Bracket Awards
MVP — Kyle Fossman, Haines.
All-Tournament Team — Tyler Swinton, Haines; Dylan Swinton, Haines; Vinny Edenshaw, Hydaburg; Willie Hayward, Metlakatla; Aquino Brinson, Angoon; John Crousman, Angoon; Chris Bryant, Metlakatla; Shea Jackson, Kake; Clayton Edwin, Angoon; Dameon Bell-Holter, Hydaburg.
C Bracket Awards
MVP — T.J. Young, Hydaburg.
All-Tournament Team — Travis Dybdahl, Hoonah; Kevin Young, Hydaburg; Stuart DeWitt, Klukwan; Larry Cooper, Filcom; Joe Young, Hydaburg; Erik Hamilton, Hydaburg; Andrew Friske, Klukwan.
Masters Bracket Awards
MVP — Rudy Bean, Kake.
All-Tournament Team — Lloyd Davis, Kake; Pete Dorn, Klukwan; David Buss, Klukwan; Erik McCormick, Klukwan; Jerry Riddlington, Yakutat; Ken Willard Jr., Hoonah; Jay Peterson, Kake.
Women’s Bracket Awards
MVP — Jesse Ellis, Skagway.
All-Tournament Team — Kaitlyn Jerod, Skagway; Rachel Brittenham, Haines; Rose Fraker, Yakutat; Savannah Ames, Skagway; Melissa Fisher, Hoonah; Fran Daly, Haines; Samantha Clay, Haines.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
Hoonah’s Kamal Lindoff, left, steals the ball from Kake’s Jay Peterson in the Master’s bracket final at the 72nd annual Juneau Lions Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School on Saturday, March 24, 2018. Lindoff was the lone inductee into the Gold Medal Hall of Fame this year. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
