Haines High School senior Eric Brouillette (40) shoots over Craig High School sophomore Ayden Benolken (24) and freshman Josh Bennett (10) during the Glacier Bears 68-39 win over the Panthers in the Region V 2A/4A Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, Mar. 8, 2023 at Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)

Haines High School senior Eric Brouillette (40) shoots over Craig High School sophomore Ayden Benolken (24) and freshman Josh Bennett (10) during the Glacier Bears 68-39 win over the Panthers in the Region V 2A/4A Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, Mar. 8, 2023 at Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)

Haines defeats Craig in boys Region V tournament opener

Glacier Bears chill Panthers with 68-39 win.

The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Region V tournament is made possible by Sealaska Corp. Thanks to this sponsorship, this article —and all 2023 Region V coverage — is available online without a subscription to the Empire.

The bank was open for Haines High School senior Luke Davis during the Glacier Bears 68-39 win over Craig in the Region V 2A/4A Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau.

Davis put two long shots off the glass at the end of the first and second quarters to help Haines open a 35-12 advantage at the half and started the second half with a bank shot for a 38-12 advantage.

“That doesn’t happen very often,” Davis said of his long-range banking skills. He also had six assists in the contest. “But, you know, confidence and just taking the shot. We were moving the ball well and taking good shots. We were being aggressive defensively which led to a good transition game. That really helped us out tonight.”

And if Davis or any of the Glacier Bears were off, Haines senior Eric Brouillette had their back securing a team-high nine rebounds.

“I think the mind set that the coaches have been preaching all season is just to play 100-percent all game,” Brouillette said. “Go after every loose ball, every rebound, and just really dog-it-out… get on the ground, get physical and have a fun time.”

The Glacier Bears opened the game on a 7-1 run keyed by the inside rebounding of Brouillette, senior Garrett Stickler and junior Jackson Long.

Brouillette closed out the stanza with two scores inside and a blocked shot that triggered a fast break score for sophomore Phoenix Swaner and Davis canned his first shot past the arch for a 21-7 lead after eight minutes of action.

Craig junior Bryant Hollloway drew the tough defensive assignment on Brouillette and kept the Haines big man from earning easy inside position while also pulling down 10 rebounds for himself.

“I’m always the shortest one on the court so I have to play the hardest,” Holloway said. “I’m down there because I don’t get pushed around too easily, I always keep that in my mind, ‘don’t get pushed around by the big guys.’ Height doesn’t matter and I jump high. This is my favorite sport. I do wrestling a lot along with it so that is why I am down there guarding all the big guys… I hustle and don’t get pushed around. That’s all there is to it.”

Haines played an aggressive 2-3 zone and trapped on the wings. Their speed outside and length inside gave them an advantage for quick scores and they held a 51-25 advantage starting the final eight minutes of action.

“We did the same thing a few weeks ago when they came to Haines,” Glacier Bears coach Don Nash said. “Because they are a little bit shorter team I feel comfortable bringing Eric (Brouillette) out as he is pretty athletic out in the open. Him and Luke (Davis) have been playing together since they were in fourth grade so they are a great trapping pair on the outside. It is fun to see the kids play well… and also to see our freshmen and sophomores come off the bench and score.”

Davis led Haines with 19 points, Brouillette added 14, sophomore Alex Weerasinghe seven, Long six, freshmen Colton Combs and JC Davis five apiece, freshman James Stickler and senior Garrett Stickler four apiece, senior Jacob Weerasinghe and Swaner two apiece.

The Glacier Bears hit 7-18 at the freethrow line, the Panthers 9-14.

Sophomore Ayden Benolken and Holloway led Craig with eight points apiece, freshman Josh Bennett added seven, junior Jason Fowler and sophomore Brody Bazinet six apiece, and senior Sam Bass and sophomore Tyler Smith two apiece.

Haines advances to play top-seed Metlakatla on Thursday at 1:15 p.m. Craig falls into a 4:45 p.m. elimination game against the loser of Wednesday’s late contest between Petersburg and Wrangell.

“I was happy with our guys’ hustle,” Craig coach Thomas Mills said. “We got shots off but they just didn’t fall. Other than that we played hard and that is all I could ask for. We just missed a few shots, they were there. Haines played really good defense, had good rebound, good shooting, good ball movement… we just came up short. We couldn’t find a shot. Hopefully tomorrow we can pick it up.”

More in Sports

Hoonah and Filcom players battle for a loose ball during C Bracket action in the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament, Monday, March 20, at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Klas Stolpe/For the Juneau Empire)
Filcom topples Hoonah 87-66 to earn Thursday semifinals

C Bracket shootout featured Filcom’s Cooper, Heumann and Hoonah’s Dybdahl.

Klukwan’s Russ Stevens (23) scores against Hoonah’s Michael Mills (1) during Masters Bracket action in the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament, Monday, March 20, at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Klas Stolpe/For the Juneau Empire)
Klukwan wins battle of boards to defeat Hoonah in Masters Bracket

Win puts Chilkat Thunder into Thursday semifinals

Hydaburg’s George Peratrovich drives along the baseline while defended by Haines’ Tyler Swinton (44) early in Hydaburg’s 75-57 win Monday night. Swinton led all scorers with 28 points, doing much of his damage in the second quarter. Peratrovich game down with 10 boards in the contest, which helped cinch the win. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Hydaburg chops down Haines’ height

George Peratrovich, Darren Edenshaw come up big on the boards

Juneau’s Chase Saviers goes in for a layup Monday afternoon in a B Bracket game against Metlakatla during the Juneau Lions Club 74th Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé gymnasium. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Juneau lands 111 points in win over Metlakatla

The team won by exactly 40-points.

Yakutat’s Trinity Jackson goes up for a shot Monday afternoon in a game against Kake during the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé gymnasium. Yakutat prevailed against Kake 69-33. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Yakutat finishes with 36-point lead over Kake in W bracket

Kake women bested on second day of the tournament.

Juneau’s Ed Mercer (7) puts up a shot against Sitka Monday morning during this year’s Gold Medal basketball tournament at JDHS. Mercer finished the game with 6 points. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Juneau notches another M Bracket W against Sitka

Juneau beats Sitka in M Bracket game

Hoona’s Travis Dybdahl shoots a layup against Angoon Sunday night during the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at JDHS. Dybdahl led his team with 32 points (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Hoonah beats Angoon in fourth quarter steal on Sunday

The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold… Continue reading

K. Santo Franks of team Haines puts up a 2-point shot against Yakutat on Sunday night during this year’s Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at JDHS. Franks led his team in points for a total of 14. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Haines hangs on for Sunday night win against Yakutat

The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold… Continue reading

Angoon’s Duncan O’Brien shoots between Hydaburg’s George Peratrovich (1) and Darren Edenshaw during B Bracket action during the Juneau Lions Club 74th Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament, Sunday, March 19, at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)
Hydaburg nips Angoon with a Gold Medal buzzer beater

Vinnie Edenshaw put his game-high 32nd point off the glass and through the net as the buzzer sounded

Most Read