Region V Basketball Tournament: Website

MEHS Regional Articles: Girls, Boys

Posted 3-9-10

Girls Fight Back to State

By Craig Giammona
Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves faced an uphill climb to the state tournament after losing to Haines 46-45 Thursday.

But the Lady Braves beat the Glacier Bears when it mattered most, taking a 37-36 win over Haines Saturday afternoon to punch their ticket to Anchorage's Sullivan Arena.

"I thought we showed great resiliency,'' MEHS coach Carl Blackhurst said. "We're excited. There's a real opportunity here for us and hopefully we can take advantage of it.''

Blackhurst said he feels Southeast is the toughest region in the state for 3A girls basketball and that both Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka could be in the running for a state title.

Nothing would please local fans more than a bridge battle in the state championship game, though tough games are ahead for both of the local girls teams.

The Lady Braves, the two seed out of Southeast, will play Glennallen at 9:45 a.m. March 15. Barrow and Cordova are also in Mt. Edgecumbe's bracket.

After working their way through the losers bracket over the weekend, Blackhurst said the Lady Braves should have no trouble with the early tip off next Monday.

Mt. Edgecumbe won games at 8 a.m. both Friday and Saturday as they took a circuitous path to state tournament. After beat Craig 49-45 Friday morning, the Lady Braves downed Petersburg 41-39, setting up a re-match with Haines.

The Lady Vikings were not an easy out for Mt. Edgecumbe. Petersburg led the game 39-38, before Aeshia Upton (Togiak) made a key steal for the Lady Braves. Utpon aand Christina Fields (Kotzebue) made clutch free throws in the final minute to seal the game.

Nothing came easy for the Lady Braves during the Region V tournament, and the final game Saturday was no exception.

The Braves led 8-0 after the first quarter, but Haines trimmed the Edgecumbe lead to 18-14 at the half. The score was 26-24 after three quarters, and the Lady Braves just couldn't put Haines away. A bucket by Fran Daly put Haines up 36-35 late, but Lainey Beaver (Kotzebue) hit two foul shots to get the Lady Braves back on top at 37-36.

Haines had the ball with 12 seconds to go, and got two good looks at the basket. Hannah Wing missed a 15-footer, and Abby Jones was unable to score the put back as time expired. When the buzzer sounded, the Lady Braves celebrated another trip to the state tournament on their home court.

The Lady Braves had won the last two Region V titles. Sitka broke that streak this year, but Blackhurst said the team's main focus was making it to state.

Now, he said, the Lady Braves need to "sharpen up.''

"We're going to try and peak at state,'' Blackhurst said. "The focus will really be honing the girls in our game. We're not going to worry too much about what they're (Glennallen) going to do to us.''

The Lady Braves will enter the state tournament battle-tested after winning three games in two days.

"That was good preparation,'' Blackhurst said, adding that Mt. Edgecumbe would face "winnable games at state.

"I think we have some real weapons,'' he said. "I know we can play much better.''

Nicole Pingayak (Chevak) was a big part of the Lady Braves' win over Haines, drawing key charges in the fourth quarter.

Hampered by foul trouble, Blackhurst also got big minutes off the bench from Upton and Caroline Long (Point Hope).

Fields, Pingayak and Beaver made the all-conference team for Mt. Edgecumbe.

Updated 3-9-10

Boy Battle Back to State

By Craig Giammona
Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

After an emotional loss in the 3A boys championship game Friday night, the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves came back to beat Metlakatla Saturday and advance to the state tournament as the two seed out of Southeast.

It was a somewhat improbable run for the Braves, who lost their leading scorer Daniel Peters to injury in mid-February.

Mt. Edgecumbe had just three regular season games to acclimate to life without Peters, a solid post player who was typically at the center of the Braves' offensive attack.

But coach Archie Young's rotation, which featured one senior during Region V action, came together just in time for the Braves to nearly upset Haines Friday night, in a thrilling game that saw the Glacier Bears win 72-71 in overtime.

On Saturday, the Braves, who were a crowd favorite throughout the tournament, trailed Metlakatla by 8 points at the start of the fourth quarter. But Mt. Edgecumbe surged in the final 8 minutes, and won 70-60.

``I don't want say surprised, just really pleased,'' Young said today, when asked about his team's strong play. ``They (the Braves) made the decision to play really hard and leave everything on the floor.''

Sean Melovidov (St. Paul) scored 23 points against the Chiefs. He knocked down 8 straight free throws in the fourth quarter as the Braves put the game away.

The Braves trailed most of the game, as the Chiefs showed they too wanted to make a trip to state. It was an unlikely position for Metlakatla, who got crushed by Haines Thursday in a game that was marred by the ejection of Herbert Guthrie.

Guthrie was suspended for one game, but was back on the court Saturday for the Chiefs.

Against Mt. Edgecumbe, Metlakatla was playing its second game of the day, after knocking off Sitka High 63-62 on a buzzer beater Saturday morning.

The score was 36-32 at the half, and the Braves did not take over the lead until midway through the fourth quarter. The Braves went up 56-55 and with about a minute to go Mt. Edgecumbe led 60-57. The Chiefs gambled and started fouling with 60 seconds left, but the Braves calmly knocked down 10 straight from the line to close out the game.

Jaylin Prince (Kotlik) chipped in 14 points off the bench, and Alexie Nick (Pilot Station), who worked his way into coach Young's rotation at the tournament, had 9 points. Zach Ivanoff (Unalakleet), who was outstanding all weekend, added 9 points and 10 boards.

Guthrie had 23 for Metlakatla and Daniel Williams had 16.

As the two seed out of Southeast, the Braves will face Glennallen, the Aurora Conference champs, at 1:15 p.m. March 15. Also in the Braves' bracket are Nome and Cordova.

Haines, the top seed from Region V, will play Galena in the opening round, with Heritage Christian and Barrow also in the Glacier Bears bracket.

The 3A boys tournament is loaded, with Nome and Heritage considered the favorites.

But both Haines and Mt. Edgecumbe are talented teams, and it would not be shocking to see the Southeast squads make waves in Anchorage.

Coach Young, who was busy making travel arrangements this morning, said he doesn't know much about Glennallen.

The Braves came within an inch of winning a Region V title Friday night, in what was probably the most thrilling game of a closely-contested tournament.

Haines, led by Kyle Fossman, one of the state's best players, came into the title game 13-0 against 3A Southeast teams this season, and the Braves stayed right with them.

Mt. Edgecumbe trailed 29-26 at the half, but with 12 seconds to go in the game, Melovidov made two free throws to tie the game 60-60. That's when things really got interesting.

Haines had the ball underneath the Mt. Edgecumbe basket and Fossman, who was held in check for the most part in the second half, broke long and took a pass from Tyler Swinton near half court. Fossman went to the lane and scored with defenders draped all over him. With 7 seconds left, Haines led 62-60. Mt. Edgecumbe got the ball in to John Peterson, the speedy freshman point guard from Golovin.

Peterson nearly did Fossman one better. He went coast-to-coast and scored a lay-up with 2 seconds left to tie the game at 62-62, sending the packed crowd at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium into a frenzy.

Peterson was fouled on the play, and had a chance to win the game from the line. But the shot missed the mark, and the game went into overtime.

Haines stormed out of the gates in the extra frame, with Kyle Rush scoring 6 straight points. The Glacier Bears led 69-63 before Mt. Edgecumbe got back into the game. 

Haines led 69-65 when Peterson scored to get the Braves within a bucket at 69-67.

Haines let Mt. Edgecumbe stay around in the fourth quarter with some uncharacteristic misses from the foul line by Fossman. But the Glacier Bears did enough from the line in overtime to hold on for the win.

Trailing 72-69, Nick scored in the lane with 10 seconds to go. But the Braves ran out of time and lost 72-71.

When all was said and done, it was close to midnight. Fossman ended up with 24 points, including 18 in the first half. Rush had 18, Easton Hagwood scored 11 and Swinton had 10 for Haines.

Melovidov scored 20 for Mt. Edgecumbe, while Peterson and Ivanoff each scored 18.

The win gave Haines its first Region V title since 1996. And with Fossman, who will play at the University of Alaska Anchorage next season, leading the way, the Glacier Bears could be dangerous at state. Fossman led the Glacier Bears to a state title in 2007.

The loss Friday to Haines forced Mt. Edgecumbe to play Metlakatla Saturday in a state play-in game.

Coach Young said he knew the Braves were disappointed with the loss to Haines, but they did a good job rebounding to beat the Chiefs.

``I wasn't concerned only because when we talked (about the Haines game) there weren't a lot of heads hanging,'' Young said.

Melovidov and Daniel Peters were named to the all-conference team for the Braves. Sitka players Cole Venneberg, Logan Lee and Mik Potrzuski also made the team along with Rush, Fossman, Tyson Hayward (Metlakatla), Ryan Baxter (Craig), Peter Wilson (Wrangell) and Paul Dupree (Petersburg).

Guthrie was removed from the squad after his ejection Thursday.