This is article has been updated to include additional information.
For the second time in two days, the Thunder Mountain High School boys basketball team found itself in an exceptionally close conference game. But Saturday, the Falcons were on the winning end of a Region V nail-biter.
Thunder Mountain scraped out a 60-58 win against the Ketchikan High School Kings a day after a 56-54 loss on Friday, which puts TMHS’ conference record at an even 1-1 and improves the Falcons’ overall record to 4-9.
“We were on a tough eight-game streak, but we were able to fix a few things offensively this weekend to be able to find more open looks for our players,” said coach John Blasco, adding he was proud of his team for sticking together through a losing streak.
[TMHS girls lose two to Wasilla]
TMHS junior Thomas Baxter led all scorers in both games. Baxter scored 29 points on Saturday and put up 17 points on Friday. Junior Samuel Lockhart and senior MJ Tupuo also reached double figures in Saturday’s game contributing 13 points and 11 points to the win, respectively.
Lockhart also had a double-digit scoring total in Friday’s game with 10 points. Junior James Polasky had 12 points in that game and did a good job on the glass in both games, Blasco said.
Junior Harbor Thomas is someone who might not jump off of the score sheet but who has worked his way into the rotation and contributed when on the court, Blasco said.
“He’s a post player who just works incredibly hard,” he said. “He made some rebounding and defensive plays this weekend that were really impactful for us.”
Now, the Falcons will get a couple of days off before resuming conference play with a pair of cross-town clashes with Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on Wednesday and Thursday.
Both games are scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. with the Wednesday game at JDHS and the Thursday game at TMHS.
• Contact Ben Hohenstatt at (907)308-4895 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.
