The Lady Wolves suffered their first defeats of the season in losing to the Metlakatla Miss Chiefs 55-25 and 50-32 on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23-24, in Metlakatla.

Defeat was an unfamiliar feeling for Wrangell after going 4-0 in their first two matchups of the season against the Haines Glacier Bears and Petersburg Vikings.

However, with the losses, Wrangell is even more driven to win their next two games against the Craig Panthers at home on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 29-30.

Wrangell was up 10-8 during the first quarter on Friday night in Metlakatla, with four points from Alana Harrison, three from Jenna Eastaugh and three from Hailey Cook. However, after Harrison accumulated three fouls, causing her to sit out the rest of the half, the Lady Wolves started to lose strength. The Miss Chiefs scored 23 points in the second quarter while Wrangell didn’t make a single basket.

Wrangell scored a few points in the third quarter with a three-pointer from Alexis Easterly and two free throws by Harrison, but they couldn’t keep up with Metlakatla.

Despite the lack of scoring, Wrangell showed their presence in other ways, getting a good amount of both blocks and steals.

The night wrapped up with six more points from Harrison, as well as four from Cook, but still ended with a 30-point loss for the Wolves.

Saturday morning the girls team ramped up the intensity with a full-court press and some good shots by Harrison and Cook, as well as a three by Christina Johnson and a layup from AJ Roundtree — neither having scored the night prior. Despite their efforts, Metlakatla led 11-9 at the beginning of the second quarter.

Johnson came out with another three after the break, and the same from Cook. Free throws by Cook and senior Shailyn Nelson kept the game close, with Metlakatla up 24-19 at halftime.

The Lady Wolves weren’t going down without a fight. Harrison hustled from block to steal to rebound, moving all over the court. But one can’t beat five, and despite her attempts Metlakatla was ahead by 15 when they headed into the final quarter of the game.

The Wolves scored just four points in the final quarter against a tight Metlakatla defense.

Cook had a good offensive game with 15 points at the end of the day, having almost half of Wrangell’s points for Saturday.

The final score was 50-32 for Metlakatla.

The two teams will not go head-to-head again until the Southeast regional tournament in Juneau on March 5-7.

“Metlakatla is the team to beat this year,” said Harrison, the Lady Wolves team captain. “We went into the game knowing we had to work hard, and from the loss we know what we have to work on to beat them.”

The Miss Chiefs were the Division 2A state champions in 2024 after placing second the year before.