At half time, it was anyone’s game. By the end of the third, it was all but over.
The Thunder Mountain High School Falcons cranked up its defense Thursday to best the Petersburg Vikings 53-40 on the Vikings home court during the Little Norway Tournament, starting its season with a bang.
“It’s such a new group from last year,” head coach John Blasco said. “I wasn’t really sure what to expect.”
Junior guard Chase Saviers led the Falcons with 15 points and was among three players to hit double digits, with sophomore wing Luke Clark and senior point guard RJ Manning adding 10 each. Junior forward Mahina Toupaiolepo added seven points on the night.
“We’re small, so we tried to run some but not as much as we hoped to,” Blasco said. “Petersburg slowed us down some.”
Blasco said he was pleased with how well his team moved the ball and their overall shot selection from the floor.
“We didn’t force many shots,” he said. “We just didn’t shoot a very high percentage.”
The Falcons trailed 29-26 at the half but got a push from Manning and Clark in the second half, each scoring eight apiece.
The Falcons held the Vikings to just 11 points in the second half, giving up just two baskets in the third quarter. Five of Petersburg’s seven fourth-quarter points came from the free throw line.
The Vikings’ Stewart Conn led all scorers with 17 points, but was held to just five in the second half.
“He scored when he wanted to,” Blasco said of Conn, who played his freshman year at Juneau-Douglas High School. “Petersburg will have a really nice team this season, they have a lot of potential.”
The Falcons’ coach said he saw the usual “first game jitters and miscues” but “I’m happy, it’s always nice to get the win.”
Thunder Mountain has a shorter team than in years’ past, and said the key to facing taller teams will be using speed, blocking out and playing tough defense in the post.
“We’re going to have our hands full playing teams like JD and Ketchikan,” he said.
Nine players traveled to Petersburg for the weekend tournament, and Blasco said there are four more players “who we have to see how they play into the mix.”
The Falcons will compete at 2:45 p.m. today against Cordova.
