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The Metlakatla Chiefs had a shaky start against the Haines Glacier Bears but turned the tide in the second half to earn a 76-45 Region V tournament win and advance to Friday’s championship game.
Haines senior Eric Brouilette led the early Glacier Bears attack, scoring five points in the first quarter but limiting the Metlakatla inside game and classmate Luke Davis added five points while slowing down the Metlakatla fast break.
“I just started out telling the boys, ‘Hey, let’s just stick with them for a half,’ because if we can stick with them for a half we can stick with them for a game,” Haines co-head coach James Hart said. “That was the game plan going in.”
Metlakatla still held a 20-12 lead after eight minutes thanks to deep shots by senior Cameron Gaube and sophomore Harvey Booth and two inside power moves apiece by seniors Aaron O’Brien. But the Chiefs also had eight turnovers. The Chiefs were outscored 12-11 in the second stanza but held a 31-24 advantage at the break.
“We weren’t taking care of the ball,” Metlakatla coach Tony Scott said. “We were taking some bad shots and had some bad turnovers and we were getting beat on the boards, which is our calling card – owning the boards on both ends. Just some uncharacteristic play. I think we were a little rusty not playing in two weeks. And Haines was playing really hard. Give them some credit. They did some really good things in the first half to us, and attacked us and put us on our heels a little bit.”
In the second half Metlakatla got back to controlling the basketball defensively and being patient on their offensive sets. The third quarter saw six different Metlakatla players find the scorebook while limiting Haines to just six points and took a 47-30 lead into the final quarter.
“We got back to our game of basketball,” Scott said. “We like to play at our pace and our tempo.”
Metlakatla hit three shots from the arch in the final period, one from sophomore Troy Russell who scored all nine of his game points in the stanza. Sophomore Frank Guthrie recorded the other two deep scores and O’Brien added another six points inside as they pushed the lead, outscoring Haines 29-15.
Haines’ Brouilette tallied 10 of his game-high 18 points in the final eight minutes.
“We came out with a little less energy in the second half and that was the difference,” Haines’ Hart said. “I couldn’t point out anything that made that difference but we lost the game. We are on to the next one. I have a lot of confidence in this team. I know we have the potential and opportunity to get that number two spot. It just means how are we going to show up for each game? Do we want it? Are we going to fight for it? We have the potential. It is up to them.”
O’Brien led Metlakatla with 14 points, Gaube added 10, Russell nine, Shayne Anderson eight, Booth seven, seniors Jayden Buhler and TJ Jackson, Guthrie and sophomore Carter Marsden six each, senior Gaib Buxton and junior Mason Rolando two apiece.
The Chiefs hit 5-9 at the free throw line, the Glacier Bears 10-23.
Brouilette led Haines with 18 points, Davis added 13, junior Jackson Long four, freshmen Colton Combs and JC Davis three apiece, sophomore Phoenix Swaner two and senior Garrett Stickler one.
Metlakatla advances to play Petersburg in the championship game at 4:45 p.m. Friday.
Haines plays an elimination game Friday at 8 a.m. against the Thursday Craig/Wrangell winner.
