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The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves split a pair of games in Haines over the weekend, a 55-40 loss Saturday ending a conference winning streak that dated back to February 2008.
The Lady Braves won their 28th straight game against a 3A conference opponent Friday night, but the Glacier Bears bounced back to end the Edgecumbe run the next night.
"It was a wake-up call, (but) I'd rather do it now than in March'' MEHS coach Carl Blackhurst, himself a graduate of Haines High, said of the loss. "The league is changing, it's more competitive. We're going to have to fight for every game. We have a lot of work to do if we want to be where we were last year.''
Mt. Edgecumbe came into the season riding a 25-game conference winning streak.
Last season, the Lady Braves ran the table in the Southeast conference on their way to a second straight Region V title and a trip to the state championship game.
In the 2007-08 season, the Lady Braves started off 1-5, losing at Haines and Wrangell before splitting a series in Petersburg.
After they returned home that February, the Lady Braves swept Craig and ran off 11 straight conference wins to capture a Southeast title.
This season, the Lady Braves opened with two conference wins over Metlakatla. The victory Friday over Haines brought the streak to 28 games, with the Lady Braves shaking off the rust of a month-long break to move to 6-0 on the season.
But the Glacier Bears managed to end a nearly two-year old streak Saturday night, dropping Mt. Edgecumbe to 6-1 on the season and 3-1 in the conference.
Blackhurst said he hoped the loss would refocus the Lady Braves as they go for their third straight Region V title.
Haines and Petersburg are improved, and the Sitka High Lady Wolves are 9-0. Edgecumbe and Sitka will meet Feb. 10 at SHS.
Blackhurst said the Lady Braves came out strong Friday night and led by 12 at the half. Haines made a run in the third quarter, pulling within 4 points, but the Lady Braves weathered the storm and held on for a 59-51 win.
Mt. Edgecumbe led by 3 at the half on Saturday, but struggled in the second half as the Glacier Bears took control.
"It seemed like Haines came up with everything,'' Blackhurst said. "We weren't quite getting there on steals (and) loose balls.''
Blackhurst said Haines took care of the ball in the fourth quarter and made free throws to ice the game.
"We were getting the ball where we wanted, (but) nothing was going down,'' Blackhurst said. "I think we were just tired.''
Ultimately, the Lady Braves fell victim to what is known on Japonski Island as the "Edgecumbe curse,'' Blackhurst said.
After winning five games to open the season, Blackhurst's players, like most Mt. Edgecumbe students, returned home for a long holiday break that ended Jan. 11.
Blackhurst had just four practices to get the Lady Braves ready for the trip up Lynn Canal, and it caught up with the squad Saturday night.
By Sunday night, the Braves were back at Mt. Edgecumbe for a practice. Mt. Edgecumbe has this weekend off before hosting Petersburg Jan. 29-30.
"The girls are committed to working really hard,''Blackhurst said.