Kentlake steals Classic crown

Published 8:20 pm Thursday, December 31, 2015

The Kentlake Falcons stole the Capital City Classic championship on Wednesday.

Literally.

Trailing 43-42 with less than three minutes on the clock, the visiting Falcons scored eight unanswered points, six of those off of three consecutive steals, for a 53-48 victory against Juneau-Douglas High School at home.

“When we got it and we were up by one, I was trying to get us to slow down and gather themselves … and they did what they needed to do,” Kentlake coach Godfrey Drake said.

The Crimson Bears (4-2) fought until the end, coming up with two key steals of their own to close the gap to three points with less than a minute remaining.

JDHS senior forward Kaleb Tompkins put up a desperation 3-pointer while trying to draw a foul with seconds left on the clock, but the shot bounced off the rim. Kentlake’s Julion Mackey was fouled on the next possession and knocked down two free throws to seal the win.

“We had some mental lapses at some pretty inopportune times, especially late in the game,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said. “The one thing I was really proud of is the guys kept playing through it and battled, and we hit some shots in the last minute and a half that kept us in it.”

Tompkins led all scorers with 24 points on the night, including nine from long range, and he was 3-of-5 from the free-throw line. Senior guard Guy Bean added 10 and senior center Hunter Hickock had five points. Sophomore guard Kolby Hoover added a spark off the bench late in the game, scoring four of his six points in the final quarter.

Kentlake senior forward Austin McBryde, who was named tournament MVP, led the Falcons with 18 points. Mackey and Trey Helgeson added eight points each. Kevin Baker contributed seven and Justin Olson six.

JDHS jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game with Tompkins scoring six of those points. Kentlake switched from a half-court to full-court trap, forcing turnovers and clawing back to a 16-9 score at the end of the first quarter.

“We were playing out of character, and Juneau-Douglas did a great job coming out,” Drake said.

The Falcons’ momentum continued into the second quarter, with Kentlake going on an 8-0 run to take the lead, 17-16, with six minutes remaining. From there both teams exchange baskets. Bean sank a short jumper and Tompkins made a free throw for a 26-23 advantage at the half.

Kentlake started the third quarter with a 12-0 run by scoring off of turnovers and offensive rebounds to jump ahead 35-26. JDHS then went on a 10-1 run of its own to end the third quarter tied at 36-36.

“They did a really nice job being aggressive and it was a great high school basketball game,” Casperson said. “That’s a good team and they play in a tough league. They have some good athletes. Games like this help us prepare for our season and our conference.”

Kentlake shot 9-of-17 from the free throw line and made 19 field goals and two from long range. JDHS was 5-of-11 from the charity stripe and hit 14 field goals and five from 3-point range.

SITKA 67, HYDABURG 55

Sitka big man Jesse Lanatiegne scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Wolves to a 67-55 victory of Hydaburg on Wednesday.

Marjo Vidad added 17 for the Wolves, Oliver Moore-Baker had 9 and Trevor Dalton scored seven.

Hydaburg’s Nick Nix scored a game-high 20 points in the effort, followed by Sidney Warren-Edenshaw with 15 and eight from Michael Eaglestaff.

Sitka held a 32-27 lead at halftime and increased the spread to 48-40 after three.

Neither team shot well from the free throw line, with Sitka making 13-of-27 and the Warriors shooting 13-of-23.

CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC AWARDS

MVP

Austin McBryde, Kentlake

ALL-TOURNEY TEAM

Jesse Lantiegne, Sitka

Tevin Bayne, Sitka

Sidney Warren-Edenshaw, Hydaburg

Kaleb Tompkins, Juneau-Douglas

Treyson Ramos, Juneau-Douglas

Trey Helgeson, Kentlake

Julion Mackey, Kentlake

• Contact managing editor Charles L. Westmoreland at 523-2265 or at charles.westmoreland@juneauempire.com.