The Juneau-Douglas High School boys hockey team is headed to the state tournament.
The Wasilla-based First National Cup Hockey State Championships take place today through Feb. 13. JDHS faces Dimond at noon today in its opening match.
Juneau-Douglas finished the regular season with six wins and nine losses, earning a second seed in last weekend’s Mid Alaska Regional Tournament. The Crimson Bears placed second in the tournament, losing to West Valley last weekend by a score of 11-0, but earning a berth at the state championships.
Co-captains Chase Barnum and Zach Hebvert were selected to the Mid Alaska Conference All Conference Team during the tournament. Hebert was an offensive selection and Barnum for defense.
Boys basketball:
JDHS vs. Sitka
At home, the Juneau-Douglas boys basketball team faces 3A competition this weekend with two games against Sitka at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday and 7 p.m. on Friday night.
The two Southeast-based teams have played this year, with JDHS taking Sitka down 81-63. In the two teams’ Capital City Classic game, Sitka’s 6-foot-7 big man Jesse Lentaigne created problems for the Crimson Bears down low. JDHS coach Robert Casperson is interested in seeing how his team has improved defensively since then, and refuses to take the match lightly.
“Sitka has played well against some of the top 3A teams in the state. They match up against us well. … The last three years there has been a lot of parity between the 3A and 4A levels in terms of size and ability. We aren’t considering Sitka just another 3A school.”
The Crimson Bears recently split a two-game series with the state’s No. 1 ranked Ketchikan; Sitka is on a four-game win streak.
Girls basketball:
JDHS vs. TMHS
The crosstown rivalry between Thunder Mountain High School and Juneau Douglas girls basketball teams picks up again this weekend with two games: one at 6:30 p.m. Friday and the other at 8 p.m. Saturday. Both will be played at Thunder Mountain.
The teams have met once this year, with JDHS coming out on top at home 43-41. The Crimson Bears are a young, physical and deep team which will look to get Thunder Mountain in foul trouble, something it succeeded with in its last game against TMHS. JDHS coach Leslie Knight expects this weekend’s games to be no different.
“Ideally we try to attack the basket and get the other team in foul trouble. We’re coming off a trip up north where the refs called a loose game, so we’re still adjusting back to the refs calling the ticky-tack fouls down here,” Knight said.
Boys basketball:
TMHS vs. Hutchinson
The Thunder Mountain boys basketball team has filled an open weekend in its schedule by inviting Fairbanks 3A team Hutchinson down for two games at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday at the Thunderdome.
TMHS holds a 5-9 record, while Hutchinson is 1-12.
