Injury and high number of fouls hurt Wolves

The Wrangell boys’ varsity basketball team won and lost away games over the weekend against the Craig High School Panthers.

Coach Ray Stokes said a team effort helped the Wolves defeat the Panthers Friday 60-56, but an injury and high number of fouls contributed to the 47-78 loss Saturday.

Friday’s game was what Stokes called the “best game we played all season.” The Wolves rebounded well, played good defense and looked good offensively, he said.

Every one of the players contributed to the win. Clayton Stokes scored 26 points for the Wolves and Clayton Rhodes did well beneath the basket rebounding shots, Stokes said. Travis Bangs contributed offensively, and Jake Murphy chipped in a few points, as well, he added.

“That’s what’s nice about it, it was a team effort,” Stokes said.

However, Clayton Stokes, the team’s point-guard, sprained his ankle during the game. He attempted to play the following night, but the injury forced the starter to the sidelines.

“That kind of hurt us a little bit,” Coach Stokes said.

To add to that, Stokes said the majority of his starting players fouled-out of the game, and mostly by halftime. Because of the fouls, Craig was able to take over 40 free throws, and sunk over half of them.

The junior varsity team also won and lost games against Craig. Friday night, the Wolves lost by two points, with the game ending 48-50. The following night, the team was able to score one more point than Craig and took the game 42-41.

The Wolves face the Glacier Bears of Haines High School this weekend. Unlike the girls’ basketball team, the boys play away this week and won’t play a home game for another couple of weeks.

Haines is one of the better teams in the conference, Stokes said, but added his team continues to improve on the court.

“We’ve just got to go do it and hopefully, we just get better,” he said. “We have been getting better.”