Wrangell goes 'Norwegian' for hoops opener

The Wrangell boys’ and girls’ basketball teams made their season debut for the 2012-13 school year last weekend in Petersburg as part of the annual Little Norway Tournament.

The tournament featured six other teams and the Wolves and Lady Wolves squads took part in their first year as competitors in the 2A conference – which means both teams will be in heavy competition with Craig, Metlakatla and Haines as the season progresses.

While the Petersburg Vikings were the hosts, varsity squads from Craig, Klawock, Haines and Angoon, along with Ketchikan’s junior varsity team, took part in the two-day tournament.

Wrangell began the weekend with two games on Thursday, Dec. 13 – a 51-41 win for the boys’ team over Haines, and a heartbreaking 62-23 loss for the girls to Klawock.

Klawock, who went undefeated at the tournament with 3-0 records for both the boys’ and girls’ teams, continued their dominance over Wrangell on Friday as the Chieftains beat the Wolves 61-23. The Lady Wolves went down to defeat as well, falling to the Lady Vikings 45-27 in the late evening game.

Saturday meant redemption, however for both teams from Wrangell as the boys’ squad took out the Angoon Eagles in a 56-40 win, and the Lady Wolves blasted the Haines Lady Glacier Bears 43-27.

Overall, the Wolves ended the weekend at 2-1, with the Lady Wolves posting a 1-2 record for the start of the year.

Lady Wolves senior Kayla Rooney played strong all weekend but endured a serious physical blow during the Haines matchup, which took her temporarily out of the game. Rooney fought back through the pain, however, and re-entered the game six minutes later.

“The girl from Haines boxed out and hit my hip,” Rooney said. “I’ve been having trouble with my hip already, so I just had to sit out for a little bit.”

Rooney also gave credit to the Klawock Lady Chieftains for their high level of play.

“Klawock was a really good game,” she added. “We played together as a team and did our hardest, but they outran us. They played their plays well and found the open holes.”

Activities director Monty Buness said that although both the boys and girls teams lost key players after graduation the Wolves would be competitive on both teams this season.

“The boys lost several very productive seniors from last year, but coaches Ray Stokes and Jason Clark are working hard with the returning players and some pretty talented freshmen that should be able to contribute immediately,” Buness said. “The girls lost only one senior from last year and are coming off a season where they won half of their games; they are loaded with seniors this year, and by all predictions should have a very competitive year.”

The next tournament for the Wolves and Lady Wolves will be this weekend at Thunder Mountain. The home opener for both teams will be Jan. 4-5 as Wrangell hosts Petersburg for their 2013 Homecoming celebration.