The 2025 Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament returns for their 76th annual display of hoops talent from across the Panhandle and, sometimes, with roster picks across the state as players have migrated out of Southeast.
“Our rosters are diverse each year,” Juneau Lions Club President Tim Wilson said. “A lot of times that happens as players age up into other brackets and younger players enter the tournament. Then again, a lot of the names will be familiar to Gold Medal fans. We are excited about some of the new features this year.”
Of special note will be Sunday’s opening games. For the first time the opening day will be filled with more games than the usual Sunday brunch bracket with action from 9 a.m. to the final game starting at 8:30 p.m.. The B, C and Women’s brackets will all be in action.
“This year we have a Women’s team coming down from Hooper Bay,” Gold Medal spokesman Tim Wilson said. “I’m excited to see how they do. The Women’s bracket is becoming more and more popular. We even had a Women’s team from Whitehorse making a request. But they were about two weeks later with their Letter of Interest.”
The schedule for the 2025 Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament.
Monday will feature the opening ceremony including the National Anthem performed by the Alaskan Youth Choir. Flags will be presented by the Alaska Army National Guard and guest speaker is Matt Carle from SEARHC.
Tuesday is another packed schedule of games from morning through night and will feature the return of the Open bracket, formerly known as the A bracket.
“We brought the Open bracket back,” Wilson said. “We felt we really needed to do this to give Juneau teams the opportunity to play in the Gold Medal Tournament. The Open bracket is the best way to do that. The biggest change in the Open bracket is one very specific rule: A player can play on any team in the Open bracket and still represent their community in the B, C, Masters, or the Women’s bracket. In turn we are hoping to get some good games in the Open bracket.”
Wednesday will feature a memorial presentation by Lion Sasha Soboleff and Lion Sandra Lujan.
Thursday will feature the Eagle Raven Dance Group.
Friday special events include the Hall of Fame selections and the Walter Soboleff Award.
Wilson noted just how special having the Open division, let alone, the tournament is.
“I am so excited that the Open is back,” Wilson said. “Players spend anywhere from $2K to $3K for the week. Even more if they brought their family with them. Why not let them play as much basketball as they want? I think it will take some time for the players to get used to being allowed to play in crossover brackets. Even the women have the opportunity. Yes, I included the Women’s bracket as there is a woman playing in both the Open and the Women’s bracket this year (Micheala Demmert). We are expecting it to take a couple of years (two to three) to see how the Open bracket is going to do. The more Gold Medal fans that come and support it, the more likely it will be here for the long haul.”
The Open also features numerous athletes that are just finishing their senior high school season, such as Keontay Jackson from Kake who will be playing on Juneau AML alongside of Kendrick Payton, a referee that called a few of his games. Mt. Edgecumbe’s Donovan Standifer and RJ Didrickson will travel with their high school coach Andrew Friske to play for Mt. Edgecumbe at the GMT alongside numerous former Braves’ teammates. The SE Boys feature former Open Champ Alex Hermann and father and son Travis and Orion Dybdahl. Filco has a former Juneau-Douglas roster that includes Tony Yadao, Alwen Carrillo, Sean Oliver and Jhowel Estigoy among others.
The Masters bracket has a number of athletes that have “aged” up into that knowledge-laden division and may remind fans of the B bracket from 20 years ago or the C bracket of 10 years past.
The B bracket is a who’s who of athletic talent, new and established, that may upset Angoon’s bid for a three-peat and Hoonah looks to want to repeat their win over Hydaburg in the C bracket but a look at the attached rosters with this piece reveal that all five divisions at this year’s tournament are going to be beyond exciting. Kake has the potential to sweep four brackets, but 26 other teams will have inspiration to try just as hard.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
Official Rosters for the 2025 Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament
