Wearing blue sweats and hunched over a crutch, 37-year-old Anthony Lindoff commented to each of his teammates as they dropped off their white Kake uniforms onto a wooden bench. After falling to James Gang and being eliminated from Gold Medal, they didn’t need the jerseys anymore.
“Keep your head up baby, keep your head up,” Lindoff said.
It was the same words Lindoff told himself over the 16 hours leading up to Hoonah’s 71-50 quarterfinal loss to James Gang on Thursday afternoon.
Late in Hoonah’s Wednesday night win, Anthony partially tore his Achilles tendon. He scored 21 points in that game, adding to the hundreds if not thousands he’s scored over the course of long Gold Medal career — which before Wednesday had never been interrupted by an injury.
“Everybody in the gym was hoping it was a cramp,” Lindoff said.
Especially his teammates. The Kake C Bracket team was already down Travis Dybdahl, who underwent offseason surgery on his foot. Lindoff’s injury, much to his teammates dismay, was more than a cramp; he risked a much more serious injury if he continued to play.
So Lindoff had to watch from the sidelines as a three-minute second-half window opened for a Hoonah comeback.
After falling behind by as many as 18 points in the first half, the team from Chichagof Island finished the half on a 9-0 run. Lucas Johnson’s 3-pointer early in the second half had James Gang on the ropes, leading by only three points.
But that window soon closed as James Gang’s Jim Carson and Ray Zimmer each made field goals, followed by back-to-back threes by Sean Josyln.
“I’m really proud of the guys, they rallied,” Lindoff said. “But (James Gang) got the better of us today and we have nothing to hang our heads over.”
After coming within one possession of tying the game, Hoonah quickly fell 12 points behind, and not even its active fans could get them back in the game.
James Gang plays Friday night against the winner of the quarterfinal between the C Bracket’s remaining unbeaten teams Klukwan and Metlakatla.
•Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
