JDHS senior carries on family’s basketball tradition

For the town of Juneau, the name Dybdahl is synonymous with the game of basketball.

Johan Dybdahl was inducted into the Gold Medal Hall of Fame in ‘96, followed by his brother Jim in 2000. Johan’s son Travis played at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, winning the state championship in ‘97 and now the latest of the Dybdahl all-stars is taking his turn in the spotlight.

JDHS senior Orion Dybdahl was selected by coaches around the state with the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches as a senior all-star and will now go onto play in an exhibition game this weekend in Anchorage.

“We are very proud of OJ and happy to see his years of hard work, dedication and service to the JDHS Crimson Bears culminate with this honor,” said coach JDHS Robert Casperson.

Dybdahl had an average of 15 points in 31 games this season, shot 59.7% in 2-pointers and averaged nine rebounds per game. At 6 feet, 7 inches, Dybdahl was a dominant presence against every Southeast team the Crimson Bears faced this season; from driving the lane to straight up slam dunks, Dybdahl was a force to be reckoned with.

“It means a lot to be noticed,” Dybdahl said. “Last year I didn’t make all-conference or any other recognition, so it means a lot now that coaches see my talent. It feels kind of like a buildup of all the hard work.”

Dybdahl said his plan after graduating from JDHS is to continue on with basketball in college and he’s already had one school reach out so far from Centralia College in Washington.

“Basketball is kind of big for my family,” Dybdahl said. “So it means a lot to go play up in Anchorage this year. I’m just mostly looking forward to competing with all of the best seniors, it should be a lot of fun.”

This year the Crimson Bears won the Region V tournament for a third straight year in a row, which Dybdahl said is an accomplishment he takes a lot of pride in. While the Bears ultimately lost to Dimond High School in the state competition after defeating Colony to compete for fourth place, Dybdahl said it was still a step up that the whole team could feel good about.

“It was good that we got sixth place because that was better than what we did last year, so at least there was improvement,” Dybdahl said.

For the JDHS girls team, seniors Ashley Laudert and Kiyara Miller were also selected to play in Anchorage this weekend for the 2023 AABC all-star event.

• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com.