The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament is made possible by Sealaska Corp. Thanks to this sponsorship, this article —and all of this year’s Gold Medal coverage — is available online without a subscription to the Empire.
Juneau secured its second B Bracket victory Monday against Metlakatla during the Juneau Lions Club 74th Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé gymnasium.
Metlakatla was toppled 111-71 following a tight win the day prior. Player Willie Hayward said the team’s performance wasn’t great and thinks it was a mix of being tired, and just not being able to make the needed shots.
“We were pretty terrible in that game,” he said, laughing. “We defended as well as we could, but they were hitting uncontested 3’s — we’ll need to regroup ourselves for the next game.”
Metlakatla’s Willie Hayward attempts to grab the ball Monday afternoon in a B Bracket game against Juneau 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 led early on against Metlakatla, gradually growing the gap before the team began to push significantly and totaled more than 30 points ahead by the end of the second.
At the end of the third, Juneau was handily leading by nearly 40 points and finished the game with a lead of exactly 40 points.
Juneau’s top scorer was Matt Seymour who put up 28 points, 10 of which came during the fourth quarter. His lead was followed closely by Chase Saviers who landed six 3-pointers throughout the game and finished with a total of 26 points.
Metlakatla’s top scorer was Coleton Hayward who totaled 17 points, followed by Archie Dundas with 16 and Willie Hayward with 11.
Saviers said he was happy with how Juneau performed and said the team was able to understand and communicate better after their game Sunday night. He said he feels good about the team’s chances moving forward, but noted every team in this tournament brings something different and the tide could change easily.
“We’re just taking it day by day,” he said.
Juneau will go on to play Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of the 7:30 p.m. game Monday night between Hydaburg and Haines. Metlakatla will play Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
