Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves faced a tough road after an opening-round loss to Metlakatla at the Region V tournament in Ketchikan.

The MEHS girls were looking for a bid to the state tournament, but the early-round loss meant they’d have to win four games in three days, including two March 3. The Sitka High boys made just such a run in 2009, and the Lady Braves had won two the two Saturday games in 2010 to make state, riding the momentum to a 3A state title.

This year, the Lady Braves were just shy. They won three games to earn a spot in the state play-in game Saturday afternoon at Kayhi, but the Craig Lady Panthers came back from down 10 at the half to win 58-52 and advance to state.

Craig, the 2011 Region V champs, will make their second straight trip to Anchorage for state play, this time as the two seed from Southeast. They’ll face Dillingham in the first round next week. It will be just the second trip to state in school history for the Craig girls.

The Lady Braves exacted revenge on Metlakatla Saturday morning in an elimination game, using some clutch free-throw shooting to down the Miss Chiefs 53-47. The Lady Braves had a 29-19 lead at the half of the early-morning game, but Metlakatla came back to tie the game 39-39 with 6:04 to play in the fourth quarter. The play of the game may have come with 1:52 left. Trailing 44-42, Shante Hudson drove the lane and  scored a bucket that would have tied the game. But she also plowed over MEHS sophomore Scarlett Beaver in the process and a charge call negated the bucket and gave the Lady Braves the ball back. From there, Brandi Hale and Beaver kept Mt. Edgecumbe ahead from the free throw line.

The game ended just before 10 a.m. and just over five hours later the Lady Braves were back on the court at Kayhi to play Craig for a state berth. Hale, a senior from Hooper Bay, pushed the pace early for Mt. Edgecumbe, knocking down outside shots and getting to the lane as she looked to extend her MEHS career. The Lady Braves fell behind 4-0, but surged to a 17-12 first quarter lead as Hale scored 7 of her team-high 17 points. Hale ended up with 12 in the first half and the Lady Braves were up 32-22 heading into the locker room.

The MEHS girls had shot the ball extremely well and the only question was whether or not they could keep it up. Hale knocked down a three to open the third quarter that put MEHS up 35-22. And that’s when Craig made their push, going on a 17-2 run as they took a 39-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Braves retook the lead twice in the final period, but down the stretch it started to seem like Edgecumbe’s tough run through the backside of bracket had taken its toll. Trailing 44-43, the Lady Panthers scored the next 10 points to take a 53-44 lead late in the fourth quarter.

Craig sophomore Maggie Dinon, who had a game-high 20 points, followed up a steal and a bucket with two free throws that capped the run and gave the Lady Panthers a 9-point lead, their biggest of the game.

Mariah Martin and Brenna Johanson scored back-to-back buckets for Edgecumbe that cut the Craig lead to 53-48 with 1:05 to play, but Craig held on to eliminate the MEHS girls.

Dinon had 4 steals, 4 rebounds and 4 assists to go with her 20 points. Melissa Castle had 11 for Craig, Jeneata Johnson scored 11 of her own and Katie Dinon added 10.

Beaver scored 9 for MEHS, Johanson added 7, Martin scored 6, Fields had 5 and Melissa Fisher and Venitta Demoski added 4 each. It was the final MEHS game for seniors Johanson, Hale, Fisher and Janice Homekingkeo. MEHS coach Carl Blackhurst said the loss was a “tough pill to swallow,” particularly for Hale, the team’s senior leader.

“Those kinds of things, you want to win a game like that for those kids,” Blackhurt said.

He said the Lady Braves had to expend a lot of energy getting to the state play-in game and they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.

“It wasn’t like any of our games came easily,” Blackhurst said. “Those kinds of games take so much emotions and focus and they played really hard. In the end, we didn’t have enough push for one final spurt.”

To make matters worse, the Lady Braves were playing without freshman Taryn White, arguably their best rebounder and post player, who suffered a concussion in the second half of an elimination game against Haines Friday afternoon. The Lady Braves won that one 34-33 to stay alive.

After the game, Blackhurst told White in the hospital that the Lady Braves would make it to state and give her another chance to get on the court. But it was not meant to be. Without White in the lane, Craig hurt MEHS on the boards in the second half of the state play-in game.

“She’s such a physical presence,” Blackhurst said. “She’s good at going and getting the ball. Craig was getting two or three looks at the basket. Once again, rebounding was our Achilles heel.”

He added: “Their effort was great. In the tournament, they played hard every game. You just come up short sometimes.”

Blackhurst should have a good nucleus of players returning next year led by sophomores Beaver and Danielle Fields and White, who is a freshman.

Fields, who missed the entire volleyball season and part of the basketball season with a hip injury, had a good tournament as she started to regain her form, Blackhurst said. The MEHS coach said he’ll take a week or two off, before diving into some offseason workouts.

"The goal is always the same,” Blackhurst said. “Now you just start over.”

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves swept two games against Haines Feb. 17-18 to stay alive in the two-team race for a conference regular season title.

The Lady Braves won 56-39 Friday night in what may have been their best performance of the season. The Lady Braves jumped out to a 15-6 lead after the first quarter and never trailed in the game as freshman Taryn White led the way with 13 points and 14 rebounds. MEHS wasn’t quite as sharp Saturday, but the Lady Braves found their stride in overtime, outscoring Haines 12-2 in the extra frame to take a 48-38 win. The Lady Braves have won their last six conference games and seem to be playing their best basketball at the right time.

"It’s been fun the last couple of weeks to see them starting to put it together,” coach Carl Blackhurst said.

The Region V tournament opens Feb. 29 in Ketchikan and the Lady Braves are looking to return to the state tournament after an early exit from postseason play in 2011.

“What happened last year is in the back of their mind,” Blackhurst said. “They want to get back to state, that’s the big push.”

The big test for the Lady Braves will come Fen. 24-25, with two games against Sitka High. The Lady Wolves are 10-0 in the conference and hold a two-game lead with two to play. The math is fairly simply at this point in the season and the Lady Braves have an outside chance to win the regular season title. To do that, MEHS needs two wins this weekend over a team that is 19-3 overall and has lost to just one 3A team this year.

“Sitka has been playing awesome,” Blackhurst said. “They’ve pretty much dispatched everybody they’ve come across. This will be a real test to see where we’re at.”

He added: “If we can hold our own with them I’ll feel a little better about going into the tournament.”

Edgecumbe got a boost Feb. 17 from the return of Danielle Fields, who had been out after suffering a concussion in a game earlier this month against Thunder Mountain. But injuries and illness continued to plague the MEHS rotation. Just as Fields returned to action, starter Scarlett Beaver was ruled out with “walking pneumonia.” Blackhurst said he hoped to get Beaver back for the games against Sitka this weekend. In Friday’s game, the Lady Braves shot the ball well and were able to penetrate through the heart of the zone defense employed by Haines. Brandi Hale ended up with 13 points, while Mariah Martin and Brenna Johanson scored 8 each and Fields had 4. Hannah Wing got 17 for Haines.

Blackhurst said Haines did a much better job defensively Saturday. The teams traded baskets for four quarters and a few free throws by Hale down the stretch helped MEHS keep pace, Blackhurst said. When regulation ended the score was knotted 36-36. And in overtime the Lady Braves looked like a different team, or at least the one that won easily on Friday.

“They seemed relaxed,” Blackhurst said. “They just came out executed really well. Things just clicked.”

Edgecumbe shot 7-7 from the free throw line in overtime. White had another double-double for MEHS, scoring 20 points. Hale had 12 points and Venita Demoski scored 9. Blackhurst said Demoski’s defense on Wing, the Haines point guard, was the difference in overtime.

The wins over Haines improved Mt. Edgecumbe to 12-4 overall and 8-2 in the conference.

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

 

The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves beat Metlakatla in two close games on Japonski Island this Feb. 10-11 to quietly improve their conference record to 6-2.

 

The Lady Braves won 49-45 Friday, with Brandi Hale scoring 14 points. Freshman Taryn White added 13 and Mariah Martin and Brenna Johanson had 9 each.

 

Metlakatla, much improved this season, got 23 points from Shante Hudson and 7 each from Theresa Wellington-McGilton and Jennifer Caspersen. The game Saturday was tied 18-18 at the half, but the Lady Braves took control in the third quarter as they exploded for another 18 points. The MEHS girls led 36-28 heading into the fourth, but Metlakatla made a move and cut the lead to a point at 45-44 with 1:25 to go. Hale had a big bucket on the next possession, scoring with 44 seconds left to make it 47-44. Hale’s bucket would constitute the final two points scored by either team.

 

After Edgecumbe failed to ice the game at the free throw line, Metlakatla got the ball back with 25 seconds to go. Coach Sonda Lundvick called a timeout with 12 seconds left to set up a play, but the Miss Chiefs missed a shot in the lane and time expired with the Lady Braves ahead 47-44. Johanson had 13 for the Lady Braves, while Hale scored 12. White chipped in with 8, Martin had 7, Venita Demoski chipped in 4 and Scarlett Beaver had 3. Wellington-McGilton, a freshman, scored a game-high 24 points for Metlakatla and Caspersen added 9.

 

The Lady Braves have four tough conference games remaining, including two against unbeaten Sitka. But with the Region V tournament now just over two weeks away, the MEHS girls are right in the middle of a competitive conference battle for two state berths. So far this season, Mt. Edgecumbe has split with Craig and Petersburg and swept Wrangell and Metlakatla. They are 10-4 overall.

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

 

The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves split two games against Metlakatla Feb. 10-11.

 

 After losing in overtime Friday, the Braves rallied Saturday to salvage a split during the two-game trip to Annette Island to play the Chiefs. Saturday’s game also required an extra frame. And this time, the Braves got the win, with senior Cody Sherman scoring on a drive with about 10 seconds left in overtime to put the Braves ahead for good at 56-54.

 

“Any time a kid gets an opportunity like that at the end of the game, I was just happy with how aggressive he was,” MEHS coach Archie Young said.

 

The clutch bucket by Sherman came a night after he missed a tough shot in traffic that would have put Edgecumbe ahead in overtime. The miss was rebounded by Metlakatla with about 5 seconds left and Tadd Yliniemi drove the length of the court and scored to give the Chiefs a 66-64 win. Metlakatla had hit a three to send the game into overtime, Young said.

 

The Chiefs also scored late in Saturday’s game to send the game into overtime. This time, the Braves were at the free throw line with a two-point lead. But a missed shot, a Metlakatla rebound and a bucket at the buzzer tied the game and sent it to overtime. Young said he was initially disappointed not to get both wins in Metlakatla, but realized, the more he thought about it, that escaping with a split after two tough overtime games was a fairly good result.

 

“Our goal was to split and we got that,” he said, adding: “We’re getting there. We’re definitely improving. I still think we can get better and play more consistently but we’re getting there.”

 

In Friday’s game, Kacy Green scored 25 points for Edgecumbe and Sherman had 24, possibly career highs for both players. Sherman led Edgecumbe with 15 points Saturday, including the game-winning shot. Jaylin Prince had 14 and Green scored 13.

 

The split with Metlakatla left the Braves 11-6 overall and 7-2 in the Southeast Conference.

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves dropped a tight game to their crosstown rivals from Sitka High Jan. 31 at SHS. The Braves held the lead briefly in the fourth quarter, but the Wolves rallied for a 48-42 win to stay undefeated.

The Braves fell behind 5-0 and 11-5 in the first quarter, but found their footing and were down just 22-19 coming out of the half. Sitka's top scorer, Mik Potrzuski, picked up his fourth foul with about three minutes to go in the third and the Braves made their move. Dominique Hall scored an old-fashioned three-point play that left the score 28-27 in Sitka's favor, and Jaylin Prince followed up with two free throws that gave the Braves their first lead of the game at 29-28. Edgecumbe finished the third quarter on an 8-2 run and had a 32-30 lead at the fourth quarter opened. The Braves scored first in the fourth, but Sitka responded with a 9-2 run to take a 39-36 lead. Edgecumbe hung around down the stretch but the Braves were unable to retake the lead. Trailing 44-40 with about 40 seconds left, junior guard Kacy Green got a pretty good look at a three-pointer, but the shot missed and Sitka scored a layup on the other to ice it.

Prince ended up with 17 points and 10 boards. Coach Archie Young said the senior from Kotlik continues to "out work everybody he plays against. Hall had 13 points, Ford scored 8 and Green ended up with 6.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Braves and dropped Edgecumbe to 8-5 overall and 4-1 in the conference. Edgecumbe came into the game having beaten Wrangell twice by large margins over the weekend. Young said he was extremely pleased with how hard the Braves are playing. He said Tuesday’s game came down to a few plays in key spots. He said the Braves started a little slowly and may have gotten a bit tired in the final minute or two of the fourth quarter. Other than that, it was a solid effort for the Braves in a game played in an atmosphere similar to what they’ll see at regionals in a few weeks.

“I definitely felt like we had a few chances that slipped away,” Young said, adding: “There’s a lot of room for growth in the next three weeks.”

Young said it was a good game for Hall, who brought the ball up for the first time and was aggressive on the offensive end. The game against Sitka was the seventh in 10 days for the Braves. They were scheduled to host Craig for conference games on Japonski Island Feb. 3-4.  The Braves beat Wrangell 71-40 Jan. 28, then topped the visiting Wolves 68-50 Jan. 29.

Leo Ford, a junior from Hooper Bay, had 20 points in both games. Hall and Prince were both in double figures each night against Wrangell.

           

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

 The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves improved to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the Southeast Conference with wins over Petersburg Jan. 23-24 at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium.

 The Braves beat the Vikings by 20 points in the first game on Japonski Island then held on to win 47-46 the next night. The Braves fell behind early in the second game, took the lead with 3:19 to play in the third quarter on  bucket by senior Cody Sherman (Nome) and won it on a free throw by Kacy Green with no time on the clock. The junior from Hooper Bay drove the lane with three seconds to go. His shot was off, but he was fouled and gave the Braves the victory from the free throw line.

 

“That was big for Kacy,” MEHS coach Archie Young said today. “You don’t get a lot of chances to win a game at the free throw line like that. It’s something he’ll remember for a lifetime.”

 A night after the Braves beat Petersburg by 20, the Vikings came out with much more energy. Petersburg took a 9-7 lead in the first quarter and held the lead until Sherman scored the bucket that put Edgecumbe up 31-30 late in the third. Edgecumbe did not trail the rest of the way, but their were four ties in a game that was decided in the final 60 seconds.

 Edgecumbe tried to pull away in the fourth and took their biggest lead of the night after buckets by Green and Dominique Hall gave the Braves a 43-36 advantage about halfway through the final frame. But Taylor Pullar, Petersburg’s leading scorer, brought the Vikings right back. He scored with 3:15 on the clock to make the score 43-40 and after Prince made one of two free throws after getting fouled on a put-back attempt in the lane, Pullar made an old-fashioned three-point play that left the score 44-43 with 48 seconds to go. It was a tough bucket by Pullar, who scored in traffic, ended up on the floor after taking contact, and rallied to make the free throw. On the other end, Green broke down the defense with a crossover dribble at the perimeter, got to the lane and dished to Sherman for a lay-up. Edgecumbe was back up 46-43, and again Pullar answered. After a Petersburg timeout, Pullar nailed a three-pointer from the corner that tied the game with about eight seconds left. The score was 46-46 and coach Young signalled a timeout with 3 seconds on the clock. Edgecumbe got the ball just over midcourt and Green took the inbounds.

Prince tried to set a back pick for Hall near the foul line, but Petersburg seemed to have the lob pass covered as Hall rolled to the basketball. Instead, Green threw the ball to Prince, who promptly bounced it back to Green.

Green saw daylight and drove for the basket and the got the call Edgecumbe needed. Green ended up with 9 points. Hall led the Braves with 15, Sherman scored 12 and Prince added 9. Pullar had a game-high 19 for Petersburg and Tristan Welton scored 11.

 “I thought Petersburg did a nice job,” Young said. “I thought they played well. Anytime a team comes out and goes after you like that and you can respond and get the victory you’re pleased.”

 The game Jan. 23 saw Edgecumbe take a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter that grew to 30-11 at the half. Petersburg got within 10 points on three different occasions in the second half, but the Braves finished the game on a 11-1 run to secure the 56-36 win. Edgecumbe got 14 points each from Dominique Hall, Jaylin Prince and Cody Sherman in the game. Green had 7 and Leo Ford added 5.

By CRAIG GIAMMONA

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

     The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves took the team title at the Bill Weiss Invitational wrestling tournament in Ketchikan Nov. 12, scoring 212 points on the strength of five individual titles to beat Craig, Kayhi, Sitka and Wrangell.

    Edgecumbe had eight wrestlers in the finals, and 12 of the 14 Braves  competing at the tournament placed in the top four. The Braves dominated the heavier weight classes at the regional event, winning individual titles at 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285. Three other Edgecumbe wrestlers took second, and four more were fourth in their respective weight classes.

    As the 2011 season winds down, with the Region V tournament now just over two weeks away, the Braves are emerging as the top team in Southeast. Craig was second Saturday with 141.5 points, Kayhi was third with 130.5, Sitka was fourth at 107 and Wrangell rounded out the top five with 106 points.  Thunder Mountain (58), Thorne Bay (43), Petersburg (36.5), Hydaburg (24), Metlakatla (21), Haines (19.5), Yakutat (14) and Juneau (13) completed the field in Ketchikan Saturday at what was the biggest event in the region so far this season.

     “The margin of victory was huge, but at the regional tournament it’s not going to be that way,” Kimber said, adding that he’s working to get his team prepared for the mental challenge of wrestling at home.

    The Region V tournament opens Dec. 2 at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium and Kimber said it will be a different experience for the Braves, who have not hosted a tournament in a few years. “They’re not used to the distractions at home,” Kimber said. “Buddies. Dorm stuff. Girlfriends and boyfriends. When we go away on a trip we’re together and we can focus on wrestling, when you’re here it’s easy to get distracted.”

     Kimber said he was pleased with how the Braves wrestled. Edgecumbe had five champions: Michael Matthew (170), Shyler Johnson (182), Gusty Akelkok (195), Paul Johanson (220) and Jaylin Prince (285). MEHS had three other wrestlers make the finals. Melissa Fisher lost 15-0 in the 113-pound championship to Craig’s Tanner Thain, the 103-pound state champ last year, and Daniel Villasenor took second for the Braves, falling 11-1 to Sitka’s Will Patrick in the 132-pound final. Franklin Hoogendorn, wrestling at 145 for Edgecumbe, was pinned in the finals by Tanner Thomassen of Wrangell.

     Also placing for MEHS were: Moses Jackson (4th, 106), Kory Joe (4th, 126), Kenny Jackson (4th, 138) and Carlton Hautala (4th, 160).

By CRAIG GIAMMONA

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

    Mt. Edgecumbe’s Jaylin Prince won the 285-pound championship at the annual Anchorage Christian School wrestling tournament Oct. 29

    Prince was up 7-0 on Nikisi’s Henry Eide when he scored a pin in the second round. A senior from Kotlik, Prince is a two-time state champion at 285 and has his eyes on a three-peat. In state history, 26 wrestlers have won three state titles, though only one,  Ketchikan’s Jon Hamilton, was from Southeast.      

    Two other Mt. Edgecumbe wrestlers made the final at ACS, and a total of five placed at an event that featured 375 small-school grapplers from around Alaska and is considered a preview of the state tournament.

     Mt. Edgecumbe scored 117 points to take seventh as a team and Sitka tallied 101 points for eighth. Craig, another Southeast team, ended up ninth with 92.5 points. The team title went to Nikiski. The Bulldogs, coming off a small-school football state title, had three individual champions and scored 207 points. Dillingham (167.5), Valdez (157), Bethel (149), Kotzebue (122.5) and Skyview (120) rounded out the top six.  MEHS coach Mike Kimber had two reactions to the team scores. First, he said the region battle could be closer than some think. The Braves, with a handful of top wrestlers and solid depth throughout the lineup, appear to be the favorites for the Region V title at this point. But Kimber said both Sitka High and Craig are tough teams that could push MEHS. Secondly, Kimber noted that the Braves were 50.5 points out of second place and did that with seven point scorers. Nikiski won by a solid margin, but Kimber said the Braves can compete with the top small-school teams in Alaska.

     “I think we can close that gap,” Kimber said. “It will be interesting.

     Besides Prince, Mt. Edgecumbe had two other wrestlers in the finals Saturday. Shyler Johnson (Unalakleet) lost in the 182-pound final to Nikiski’s Lincoln Johnson on a second-period pin in re-match of a 2010 state semifinal bout.

     Paul Johanson (Hoonah) made the 220-pound final for MEHS Saturday and fell 6-4 to Houstin’s Luke Wagner.

     “There’s some things we can fix,” Kimber said of Johanson, a freshman from Hoonah. “That kid is beatable. Paul by no means wrestled up to his potential.”

     The loss was Johnason's first to wrestler other than Prince this season. Edgecumbe had two other placers: Carl Crockett was fifth at 170 and Gusty Akelkok was fifth at 195. Melissa Fisher (113), Deirdre Creed (106) and Trevor Creed (106) also wrestled for the Braves.

By CRAIG GIAMMONA

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

     The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves closed out another strong regular season in the 3A Southeast Conference Oct. 25, beating Sitka High in straight sets at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium to finish 11-1 and lock up the top seed at next week’s Region V Tournament.

     On senior night at MEHS, with coach Rich Calkins home sick, the Lady Braves held off a feisty Lady Wolves squad and won 3-0 to earn a first-round bye at Region V, which opens Nov. 3 in Juneau.

     It was the 11th straight conference win for the Lady Braves, who lost their opening match of the season in five games to Petersburg but have been perfect since against 3A Southeast opponents. The Lady Braves beat Sitka at SHS Oct. 19 in straight sets, then swept a pair of road matches in Wrangell to move their record to 10-1 heading into the final regular season match of the season. Both wins in Wrangell came on Oct. 22. The Lady Braves were delayed leaving Sitka because of fog in Juneau and did arrive in Wrangell until 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 22. They beat the Wolves at a match that began around 1 p.m., then again in a 7 p.m. match. The Lady Braves then returned to Japonski Island and beat Sitka High to close out the 2011 regular season.

    It was the Lady Wolves who ended the Lady Braves 58-match conference winning streak last year, but MEHS regrouped and rallied to win the Region V title.

    Now the Lady Braves are working on another streak, one they hope will continue right through the 2011 Region V Tournament. The Braves have won the last four Region V titles, and will enter next week’s tournament as the favorites to make it five in a row.

     The match Oct. 25 began with a ceremony honoring Brenna Johnanson (Hoonah), Donnita White (Hoonah) and Acquilina Active (Nanwalek), the three varsity seniors for MEHS. Assistant coach Archie Young stepped in for Calkins as the master of ceremonies.

     Sitka led the first game 3-2, but the Lady Braves surged to an 8-3 lead and the advantage was persistent as MEHS went up 1-0 in the match. Leading 19-13, the Lady Braves got a pair of hard spikes from freshman Taryn White and closed out a 25-15 win.

     The Lady Braves led wire-to-wire in the second game, which was close in the early going. A spike by White put MEHS up 10-7, but Sitka scored the next to points, leaving the score at 10-9. Leading 17-14, the Lady Braves made their final push, running off five straight points to go up 22-14. The final was 25-18 and MEHS had a 2-0 match lead. Sitka had a 1-0 lead in the third game, but Edgecumbe closed out the sweep with a 25-12 win. Coach Young said he was glad the MEHS seniors got a win in their final match at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium.

    “For your seniors, you always want to finish on a winning note,” coach Young said. “It’s always good for them, as far as their last match, to end on a high.”    

    The Lady Braves and Lady Wolves have just a few more practices remaining before the Region V Tournament opens in Juneau. Young, reiterating a sentiment that Calkins has made the team’s mantra this year, said the Lady Braves would spend the next few days “working on consistency and playing to our ability.”

     “You always hope your kids will step up when it matters most,” Young said, adding that, in the past, the Edgecumbe volleyball team has usually performed its best when the money is on the line.

By CRAIG GIAMMONA

Courtesy Daily Sitka Sentinel

    The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves got the better of their crosstown rivals from Sitka High during two recent wrestling events.

     On Oct. 20, the Braves beat Sitka High 63-12 in a dual at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium. The match started with four forfeits by the Wolves, and Paul Johanson and Jaylin Prince capped off the evening with back-to-back pins for the Braves.

     On. 24, the Braves won seven of the 13 bouts in a mix-and-match event at Sitka High. All seven of the Edgecumbe wins came by pin.

     "I’ve never had a team that’s been so good at pinning,” MEHS coach Mike Kimber said. “This is a pretty aggressive group of kids. They’re trying to do their best. They know how important a pin is and they like it. For them, it’s kind of a badge of honor.”

     Prince (Kotlik) and Johanson (Hoonah) both had pins for MEHS during the Oct. 24 match, as did Shyler Johnson (Unalakleet), Carl Crockett (Brevig Mission), Nathan Brown (Barrow), Carl Andrew (Napakiak) and Cody Sherman.

     Sherman, a varsity basketball player from Nome who is in his senior year at MEHS, was wrestling in his first match. Sherman beat SItka's Jaren Johnson, a freshman.

     The match on Oct. 20 was a true dual, which began at 106 pounds and went straight through to 285. With a large crowd of Edgecumbe students on hand at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium, the Braves took advantage of six Sitka forfeits and won five of the eight contested matches, including four by pin, to score a 63-15 win.

     Wrestling started at 132, after Sitka had forfeited the evening's first four matches. Deirdre Creed (106, Kotzebue), Melissa Fisher (113, Hoonah), Robert Nielsen (120, Anchorage) and Kittipath Prasartkaew (126, Dillingham) accepted forfeits for the Braves, with Daniel Villasenor facing Jaren Sumauang in the 132-pound bout. Sumauang was up 3-2 after the first period, but Villasenor (Anchorage) took control in the second and secured the pin with just three seconds to go in the frame. After Sitka Will Patrick beat George Brown (Barrow) at 138, Franklin Hoogendorn, a Koyuk freshman, came back to beat John Davis. Hoogendorn trailed 5-2 after the first period, but won 9-7 in overtime.

     At 152, Jacob Licari beat Shawn Andrews (St. Michael) 11-8 and Mitchell Boord topped Crockett 10-4 at 160. Crockett had rallied to take a 6-4 lead in the third period when the match official determined that Boord should have been allowed to start the third period on the mat. The period was started over, with Boord up 4-3, and the Sitka wrestler took advantage of his second chance.

     Kendrick Hautala, a senior from Kwethluk, got the Braves back on track with a pin at 170 pounds. After Chris Journey (St. Mary's) and Gusty Akelkok (Dillingham) took forfeits at 182 and 195, Johanson and Prince finished things off with a pair of pins.