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1-30-09

Lady Braves Pick Up Two Wins in Craig

By Craig Giammona
Courtesy of Daily Sitka Sentinel

The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves improved to 9-2 in conference play with two wins over Craig on Prince of Wales Island recently.

The Lady Braves exploded offensively Friday (Feb.12) and won 68-39 behind 17 points from Lainey Beaver, a senior from Kotzebue.

Nicole Pingayak (Chevak) had 14 for the Lady Braves and Christina Fields (Kotzebue) scored 10.

On Saturday night (Feb.13), the Lady Braves won 56-39. This time it was Whitney Weber who led the Braves, scoring 14 points for coach Carl Blackhurst.

``She did a really nice job setting up her teammates,'' Blackhurst said of Weber, a senior from Anaktuvuk Pass. ``She was very aggressive (Saturday) -- she really attacked the basket.''

Weber missed a few recent games for the Lady Braves with a back injury and returned to action last week Feb. 10 Sitka High.

The wins over Craig improved the Lady Braves to 12-2 overall this season.

The Lady Braves will make a trip to Kotzebue this week, before returning home to host Sitka High Feb. 24.

The Braves still have an outside shot to finish in first place in the conference -- if Sitka loses twice to Haines, the winner of the game on Feb. 24 would earn the top seed at the Region V tournament.

Regardless, Blackhurst said the Lady Braves are ``in a good position.''

``Everything is geared toward playing well against Sitka and Haines,'' he said, anticipating the teams the Lady Braves will likely face as they try to earn a state tournament berth. ``We want to play well on our floor.''

Since hosting Petersburg at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium Jan. 29-30, the Lady Braves have made trips to Wrangell, Sitka High and Craig. 

Teams from around Southeast will come to Mt. Edgecumbe March 2-6 for the Region V tournament, giving the Lady Braves a chance to battle for a third straight regional title in front of their home fans.