Klukwan’s Jessie McGraw stood at the free-throw line, preparing to shoot the second of two foul shots. He wasn’t sure when the last time he subbed out of the game was, but it was long before this, the C Bracket Championship’s third overtime.
Behind him, teammate Jason Shull stretched out both of his calves at halfcourt. He’d been cramping since the final three minutes of regulation, which had been more than half an hour beforehand. Now Klukwan held a 96-93 lead over Juneau James Gang in the opening minute of the third overtime.
McGraw missed the second free throw, which strangely ended up turning the tide in Klukwan’s favor.
Klukwan’s Michael Ganey grabbed the offensive rebound after McGraw’s miss, and McGraw instinctively backpedalled to beyond the 3-point line. Ganey saw McGraw there, and saw that he was wide open. He dished it to McGraw, who knocked the shot down, doubling Klukwan’s lead.
It was the first time in a long while that either team had led by more than one possession, and ended up sparking a run that led to Klukwan’s 107-97 triple-overtime victory. Lion’s Club Vice President Sasha Soboleff said afterward that it was the longest championship game in the 71-year history of Gold Medal.
McGraw led Klukwan with 25 points, scoring seven after the end of regulation. It all blurred together for him after the game as he was asked about the possession.
“That was in triple overtime, right?” McGraw asked, smiling. “That kind of gave us the edge.”
The game pitted Klukwan — the defending champions — against a James Gang team that was playing in its first Gold Medal. The team is a group of local friends (one of whom used to live on James Street), made of some who have played in Gold Medal before, but as a team they’d only been together for two weeks.
Ray Zimmer led the way for James Gang with 26 points, making some key plays down the stretch. Jim Carson was close behind with 23 points, and Sean Joslyn added 20.
Perhaps the biggest shot of the game for James Gang came from Billy Ehlyers, who drained a three with just under 40 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 73. Klukwan had numerous opportunities to win, getting the last shot in regulation, overtime and double overtime and being unable to make any of them.
Klukwan kept going to Andrew Friske in the closing moments, who was swarmed by James Gang players all game. Friske ended up with 22 points, earning MVP honors for the tournament.
Klukwan’s five starters stayed on the court for the final few minutes of regulation and all of overtime, and Shull said conversations in huddles were “stern” from time to time as the players tried to pull out the victory.
“It seemed like we kept having to come back and regroup again and then come back and regroup again,” Shull said. “We kept finding ourselves in the same spot where we were looking at each other saying, ‘Stand your ground. Don’t be the first one to give.’”
There were some tense moments on the court throughout the game, which became increasingly physical throughout. Foul trouble pestered James Gang, who had four players foul out. Just one Klukwan player finished the game with more than three fouls.
Carson wasn’t happy about the foul situation but said the main reason the team faded down the stretch was due to fatigue.
“We got tired,” Carson said. “We got back-doored a couple times. They’re a good team. They’ve been playing together for a long time.”
Most of the Klukwan players have suited up with each other since high school or even before that. Shull, who scored 23 points, said he recalled playing in one other triple-overtime game in a B Bracket game in 2000 or 2001.
Shull had a long and successful tournament, also coaching the Haines women’s team to a championship earlier in the day. He was already feeling reflective postgame, saying he’s lucky to be able to still be playing with his friends in an event that’s so important to so many people.
“It really means something to everybody,” Shull said, “from an elder in a wheelchair in the corner of the gym to a two- or three-year-old standing over the top of me giving me a hug after the game.”
As he dribbled out the clock at the end of the game, Shull pointed at the Klukwan fans, almost all of them on their feet. With a few seconds still on the clock, Shull stopped dribbling, the ball bouncing slowly away toward halfcourt.
Ganey picked it up as the buzzer sounded, handing the ball to the referee, the longest championship game in Gold Medal history finally over.
Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com or 523-2271
Klukwan’s Jason Shull drives to the basket against Juneau James Gang’s Billy Ehlers in the C Bracket finals of the Lions Club’s 71st Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School on March 25, 2017. Klukwan won in triple overtime 107-97. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Klukwan’s Michael Ganey, right, grabs a loose ball as Juneau James Gang’s Jim Carson falls in the C Bracket finals of the Lions Club’s 71st Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School on March 25, 2017. Klukwan won in triple overtime 107-97. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
