Two Juneau basketball teams played in blowouts on Friday night while another won by just one point.
The Juneau-Douglas girls coasted easily past Ketchikan, but cold-shooting nights led to mixed results for the Thunder Mountain and JDHS boys teams.
Here’s a look at all three games.
[Photos: Juneau-Douglas girls basketball vs. Ketchikan]
JDHS girls 56, Kayhi 38
It was a good night for Caitlin Pusich.
The senior’s 3-pointers largely set up the 18-point licking, bringing the Crimson Bears within one win of clinching the Southeast Conference. Pusich went on an 11-point tear in the third quarter — scoring a trio of 3’s — to finish with 26 points.
But it all started in the first half, said coach Steve Potter.
“We hit a couple of jumpers, and it just seemed to get everyone moving better,” Potter said. “Then we had a couple of opportunities in the open court where we did a really good job of looking for each other.
“In the second half Caitlin hit a couple of 3’s and she got it going on and we found her.”
Alyxn Bohulano and Sadie Tuckwood each had eight points in the win. Lianne Guevarra paced the Lady Kings with 10 points and Madison Rose scored nine. Ashley Huffine, a senior slasher and 3-point threat, came away with six for the Lady Kings, who previously lost to the Crimson Bears this season 50-35 and 43-41.
Ketchikan’s Marcus Lee shoots the ball over Thunder Mountain’s Braden Jenkins on Friday during a 62-37 Ketchikan victory at Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium in Ketchikan. (Dustin Safranek | Ketchikan Daily News)
Kayhi boys 62, TMHS 37
Two small runs in the first half of 10-3 and 8-1 foreshadowed a sizeable 30-15 second-half run by Ketchikan at the Clarke Cochrane Gym.
Only two of the five Falcon scorers reached double digits: senior Puna Toutaiolepo with his 16 points and junior Bryson Echiverri with his 10. Ketchikan brothers Marcus and Chris Lee combined for 39 points to outscore the Falcons as a two-man team.
“They beat us on both ends of the floor and they were effective at a very good game plan,” TMHS coach John Blasco said. “The Lee brothers were explosive getting to the basket, the defense on Brady (Carandang) — I think he got one shot attempt tonight.”
The Falcons and Kings split a two-game series earlier in the season. Both the earlier games were much closer than Friday’s. The Falcons won the first game 62-55 before losing the next 64-51.
JDHS boys 56, Mt. Edgecumbe 55
JDHS sophomore Garrett Bryant’s offensive rebound and putback proved to be the difference in physical game played at B.J. McGillis Gym in Sitka.
“Nice soft touch over the rim,” JDHS coach Robert Casperson said of Bryant’s game-winning basket with about six seconds left.
Cooper Kriegmont scored 15 points to lead the Crimson Bears while Bear Brown scored 20 points for the Braves.
The final play was emblematic of the win, according to Casperson, as securing rebounds and loose balls were key ingredients to overcoming a rough shooting night for the Bears.
“If we don’t go to the glass and if we don’t make the right effort to get an offensive rebound there, we lose,” Casperson said. “They’re going to grab that board because they got two guys there. Garrett was able to just elevate and take it and put it back up. You got to find ways to win and that’s a good thing to learn towards the end of the season.”
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
