Riley Traxler shoots as Thunder Mountain High School plays against Ketchikan High School on Feb. 22, 2020. (Heather Holt | Courtesy photo)

Riley Traxler shoots as Thunder Mountain High School plays against Ketchikan High School on Feb. 22, 2020. (Heather Holt | Courtesy photo)

Juneau teams play close games, end losing streak in competitive weekend

TMHS girls ended a 5-year losing streak against Ketchikan on Friday.

Juneau high schools boys and girls basketball teams played competitively home and away in a hard-fought weekend.

“It was two very competitive intense games,” John Blasco, coach of the Thunder Mountain boys team in a phone interview. “We won Friday on a last second shot.”

TMHS visited Ketchikan this weekend, winning Friday 47-46 and losing Saturday 51-46.

“Collectively, I was pleased with their performance,” Blasco said. “Braden Jenkins hit the game winning jumper with five seconds.”

TMHS will play Wasilla High School here in Juneau this weekend.

Mary Neal Garcia shoots as Thunder Mountain High School plays against Ketchikan High School on Feb. 22, 2020. (Heather Holt | Courtesy photo)

Mary Neal Garcia shoots as Thunder Mountain High School plays against Ketchikan High School on Feb. 22, 2020. (Heather Holt | Courtesy photo)

“They’re a big physical team,” Blasco said. “They’re gonna create some challenges there.”

TMHS girls had a good weekend, too. They ended a half-decade losing streak against Ketchikan on Friday, 48-44 before losing on Saturday, 45-38.

“This weekend was good,” said coach Andy Lee in a phone interview. “We broke the five years losing streak against Ketchikan.”

Lee said that the Falcons played some solid basketball this weekend, with several players standing out.

“I thought we played one of our best games of the season on Saturday,” Lee said, as TMHS lead until the last quarter. “I thought we played six very good quarters this weekend. We had some great performances.”

Letasi Fenumai shoots as Thunder Mountain High School plays against Ketchikan High School on Feb. 22, 2020. (Heather Holt | Courtesy photo)

Letasi Fenumai shoots as Thunder Mountain High School plays against Ketchikan High School on Feb. 22, 2020. (Heather Holt | Courtesy photo)

Twin juniors Mary Khaye Garcia and Mary Neal Garcia turned out solid performances, Lee said.

“The twins did a great job for us this weekend,” Lee said. “We’re starting to get strong performances from Sydney Strong.”

The TMHS girls will play Kodiak High School this weekend.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé boys won both games against Mt. Edgecumbe this weekend, winning in overtime on Friday 53-47 and 54-40 on Saturday. They’ll play at home against Ketchikan this weekend.

The JDHS girls team had the weekend off, and will play Ketchikan this weekend.

• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757.621.1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.

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