Spring showers: Haines rains 3’s to advance

Haines and Klukwan teams put on a collective 3-point shooting clinic on Friday night.

Three clubs representing either Haines or Klukwan made nearly 40 total 3-pointers in their respective semifinals at the Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. Here’s a look at how each team got it done.

Shull, DeWitt dominate in Klukwan win

Stuart DeWitt scored 28 points, Jason Shull scored 20, and Klukwan defeated Hoonah 88-67 in the C Bracket semifinals.

Shull went off in the third quarter, sinking three consecutive 3-pointers and providing a big emotional lift for three-time reigning champions.

Not much was going right for Klukwan to begin the game, but they trusted things would come together eventually. After trailing by five points at halftime, Klukwan outscored Hoonah 30-11 in the third and will contend on Saturday afternoon in the championship against Hydaburg, who’s won all three of their games.

“I would say it’s kind of a function of us having so many weapons,” Shull said of the offensive outburst. “It’s kind of next man up. I know the game before they put (Larry) Cooper on me and I was the facilitator. With our team we just have so many weapons. We take what they give us.”

Hoonah led 36-26 for a point in the second frame, but Klukwan squeezed in five points to cut it to 36-31 at halftime.

The Klukwan group made 16 total 3-pointers.

Klukwan’s Buss delivers in the fourth

Klukwan’s Dave Buss, left, drives against Yakutat’s Ralph Johnson during their masters bracket game at the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament on Friday, March 22, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Klukwan mounted a fourth-quarter rally for its third win of the tournament on Friday, dispatching Yakutat 63-58 in the Masters Bracket semifinals.

Dave Buss scored 23 points and made a late 3-pointer that put Klukwan on top in the fourth. Buss and teammate Erik McCormick accounted for eight of Klukwan’s 10 3-pointers. Jerry Riddlington led Yakutat with 24 points.

“We just played really good team basketball today and that’s the only way we’re going to continue on is everybody contributing,” Buss said.

Klukwan will try to avenge its only tournament loss when it faces Kake in the championship game. It was Klukwan’s second game without its leading scorer Jeff Sharnbroich, who scored close to 50 points through the first two games of the tournament. Sharnbroich underwent a medical emergency that required him to return to his home of Fairbanks mid-tournament.

Fossman and Co. too much for Metlakatla

Metlakatla’s Shane Martinez, right, gets a foot on the ball against Haines’ Orion Farley during their B bracket game at the Gold Medal Basketball Tournament on Friday, March 22, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Kyle Fossman came up big for Haines in their B Bracket semifinals, scoring 37 points, but so too did Tyler Swinton, who single-handedly held Metlakatla at bay with 17 points in the third quarter.

Haines won 94-77.

“Since we started this little winning streak in the loser’s bracket, we’ve tried to get out to a good start in the third quarters,” said Swinton, who had 29 points. “It was close — they closed the gap in the second quarter so we knew we needed to do something to separate ourselves a little bit.”

Chris Bryant scored 20 points and put Metlakatla up 44-42 early in the second half. But Swinton immediately regained the lead for Haines with a deep 3-pointer, and continued making baskets to maintain the lead. Fossman scored 20 of his points in the fourth.

Swinton has made 20 3-pointers over his last three games. As a team on Friday, Haines had 13 triples.