Kake runs past Hydaburg, Klawock topples Skagway to earn boys 1A Region V title shots

The Kake Thunderbirds defeated the Hydaburg Warriors 83-18 on Thursday in the Alaska Airlines Region V 1A Boys Basketball Tournament at the Thunder Mountain Middle School gym, and the Klawock Chieftains topped the Skagway Panthers 47-26. Both victors will meet for the championship at 6:15 p.m. Friday.

Kake appears to have a strong future of Gold Medal championships on the horizon if Thursday’s game against Hydaburg was any indication of their talent from starters to role players.

The Thunderbirds blitzed the Warriors with a 10-3 run to start the game, then closed the stanza on a 17-7 pace. Hydaburg senior Lorin Sanderson hit the first basket of the game from past the arc, but then Kake dominated the boards and ran at will.

“Good to come back here,” Kake coach Anthony Ross said. “This is where our streak started. Hopefully we come back and finish it up tomorrow. Our defense is pretty much our offense. These boys came out and executed today. They played hard and played together, communicated well and did what we needed to do.”

Thunderbirds baskets started falling for seniors Rodney Moler, Keontay Jackson, Aiden Clark and Josiah Jackson, and junior Devin Aceveda.

Kake then put on a defensive clinic and pressured their way to 43-10 lead in the second quarter before Hydaburg junior Ricky Alander scored with three minutes left in the stanza. Kake would lead 47-12 at the half.

Kake’s defense forced a running time clock as they went up by 40 points when K. Jackson scored for a 52-12 lead with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter. Kake would zoom out to a 60-19 lead heading into the final quarter.

“Mostly our defensive pressure was key,” Kake’s Clark said. “We just try to bring the pressure on defense every time, that is usually what leads to our offense. Then just trusting your teammates, passing to them and trusting their shots.”

Clark noted the trust the starters have in their bench.

“We’ve seen them work at practice, we know the kind of work they put in,” he said. “We know what they are capable of. We have a lot of confidence in them, all of them.”

In all, 10 players would find the court in the first three quarters and an 11th would gather acclaim in the final stanza.

Eighth grader Erik Davis, the youngest bench player with the least season minutes, received some of the loudest applause from the court to the top row of the stands when he brought the house down with a shot past the arc and again from closer in.

“Because I’m the youngest,” he said of the applause. “It’s great. I get carried by the older players.”

One player who carries him the most is his idol.

“Talen,” E. Davis said. “He’s my older brother, number three.”

K. Jackson led Kake with 12 points, sophomore Daniel Bean-Willis and Aceveda added 11 apiece, Moler 10, sophomore Wyatt Kadake nine, senior T. Davis eight, Clark six, J. Jackson and E. Davis five apiece and sophomore Xzavier Munoz-Torres and freshman Tyler Davis three apiece.

The Thunderbirds hit 1-4 from the free throw line, the Warriors 4-5.

Senior Abraham Hillaire led Hydaburg with seven points, Sanderson had six, Alander four, juniors Tyrone Carlson, Alan Kaneki and freshman D’Artagnan Peele-Guthrie three each, and junior Maika Olap two.

Hydaburg plays an elimination game at 11:45 a.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday’s late elimination game between Hoonah and Thorne Bay.

KLAWOCK 47, SKAGWAY 26

Klawock senior Tanner Smith was a marksman from beyond the arc, hitting a game-high 21 points as the Chieftains advanced to Friday’s title game.

Smith hit four shots past the arc in the first quarter, accounting for 12 of Klawock’s 16 points while Skagway managed just six points in the stanza, four from junior Camden Lawson.

Smith and junior Connor Bagby continued the scoring spree with six points apiece in the second quarter to push the lead out to 32-10 at the half.

Skagway junior Royce Borst could only play limited minutes in the first half and senior Landon Rodig and junior Kaleb Cochran would be the only Panthers to score in the second half, each scoring eight points.

Klawock led 40-18 after three quarters.

Bagby added 12 points for Klawock, sophomores Raymond Fairbanks and Paul Lindley four apiece, and senior Thomas Teal, sophomore Tristin Reno and freshman DJ Peel two each.

The Chieftains hit 2-3 from the free throw line, the Panthers 5-9.

Cochran led Skagway with 10 points, Rodig had eight, Lawson six and sophomore Malcolm Lawson two.

Skagway plays an elimination game against Angoon at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.