A trip to the state tournament was on the line as the Wrangell Lady Wolves took the court in Juneau against the Metlakatla Miss Chiefs on Saturday, and though it was close halfway through the third quarter, the Miss Chiefs pulled away to win the game and a spot at the state championships this week in Anchorage.

It was a busy four days for the Lady Wolves, who played a game every day Wednesday through Saturday, March 4-7, at the Southeast Division 2A championships in Juneau.

It was a rough start on Wednesday. Craig defeated Wrangell in the opening round, 62-32. Senior Christina Johnson led the Lady Wolves with a dozen points.

“We came in at halftime of this game and we just had to be their biggest cheerleaders,” Wrangell coach Christy Good said of trying to pick up her team after a tough first half.

“It is hard when you are down by 10, 15, or 20 points to try and dig deep and get to the next level, but it is what it is and we just need to try and stay positive.”

The team stayed positive and came back on Thursday to win against Haines, 32-27, led by Alexis Easterly’s dozen points.

Wrangell won its next game on Friday, defeating Petersburg 35-27, led by Hailey Cook’s 12 points.

But the Lady Wolves could not overcome Metlakatla on Saturday, falling 56-35 to place third in the tournament.

Metlakatla placed second; Craig took first; both are headed to state.

The Miss Chiefs watched as Wrangell whittled down their 11-point halftime lead on Saturday, fighting for second place in the tournament. The Lady Wolves came out with a 9-0 run to start the third quarter, with three-pointers from Easterly and Cook, pulling to within two points, 26-24.

But the Miss Chiefs scored the next nine points to shoot right back into an 11-point lead, adding to their margin in the fourth quarter to end with a 56-35 victory.

Cook led Wrangell with 15 points against Metlakatla, including three three-pointers. Easterly added 12 points and also made three three-pointers.

“I have five seniors that were really hungry to continue their season,” Metlakatla coach Mike Nigus said. “They didn’t want to just lay down, they wanted to continue their season and go make a statement. They are having a great season, and this was a part of it.”

The Miss Chiefs won the regular-season Southeast Conference title with a 14-2 record and are now 19-5 overall heading to the state championships Wednesday through Saturday, March 11-14, in Anchorage.

Wrangell’s Alana Harrison and Johnson were named to the All-Tournament Team, which is awarded based on conference play during the season. Harrison missed the tournament due to injury.

Wrangell’s Shailyn Nelson and Jenna Meissner were honored with tournament Good Sports Awards.

Johnson won the girls three-throw competition in a skills contest at the tournament.

The Southeast tournament Team Sportsmanship Award was awarded jointly to the Wrangell and Petersburg boys and girls teams.

The Juneau Independent contributed reporting for this story.