The Juneau Empire’s expanded coverage of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament is made possible by Sealaska Corp. Thanks to this sponsorship, this article —and all of this year’s Gold Medal coverage — is available online without a subscription to the Empire.
There was no lack of Yakutat Monday afternoon as the women’s team dominated all across the court during the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé gymnasium.
The team bested Kake 69-33, gaining its lead early on in the first quarter with a high pace and managed to secure an 8-point lead by the end of it. That lead only grew going into the second.
Kake was able to keep its cool and kept the gap from growing wider, however, come the third quarterYakutat kicked into high gear and grew a 26-point lead and finished with a more than 30-point lead by the end of the fourth.
Yakutat was led by top scorer Wrena Williams who poured in a hefty 22 points, followed by Trinity Jackson with 11 and Janie Jensen with 10.
Kake’s Mamie Crooks led her team with 8 points, followed by Monica Ashenfelter with 6 points.
Kake’s Krystle Dewitt reaches for the ball Monday afternoon in a game against Yakutat during the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé gymnasium. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Crooks said it wasn’t the outcome the team was hoping for, but said it was good for the fairly young team to get used to playing together and rotating the bench.
“It was really fun, we played really hard,” she said. “I think in the next game I want to focus on my shots, communicating more.”
Yakutat’s Rose Fraker said Kake was a great team to play against early in the tournament and was impressed with the young team’s performance.
Fraker said she was nervous going into the game and even after the win, said she was already gaining nerves for the teams’ next game against Angoon.
“It’s good to be nervous, it’s been a minute since we went to Gold Metal,” she said. “Angoon is going to be tough, but we’re looking forward to it.”
After its win, Yakutat will face Angoon Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. Kake will play Wednesday at 2 p.m.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
