Twenty-four hours removed from a triple overtime win, the Thunder Mountain high school boys basketball team finished off the Ketchikan Kings in regulation Friday night. With under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and a tie score, the Falcons went on a 9-2 run, and sustained a lead for the rest of the game, winning 72-67.
Junior Riley Olsen, after sitting out all last weekend, led Falcon scorers with 18 points. Marcus Lee led the Kings with 26 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Jake Smith added 21 points and Brent Taylor 13 for Ketchikan.
“I’m incredibly proud of our group, they basically played a game and a half last night, and then bounced back and played a top-5 team in the state and we’re able to get a big conference win,” TMHS head coach John Blasco said.
After trailing 16-12 at the end of the first quarter, the Kings took the lead on a Brent Taylor layup early in the second. The Falcons quickly retook the lead though, and played an up tempo quarter with several long, 30 foot passes. TMHS John Morris scored back-to-back layups to make it a 30-25 contest late in the quarter. The Kings knotted the score up at 30 on a deep three point attempt by guard Jake Smith. As a team though, the Kings shot just 27 percent from three in the first half.
After three lead changes in the third quarter, the Falcons held on to a 48-46 advantage to start the fourth. Kayhi tied the game at 51 on a Taylor three, before TMHS went on its run.
“The goal is when your not playing well you still have to find a way to win and we weren’t able to do that,” said Kayhi coach Eric Stockhausen. “Thunder Mountain hit some key shots and broke our press at key times.”
Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com
