Wrangell sophomore Darian Meissner takes the fight defensively to a Lady Chieftain player on Wednesday night at home.
In 1908, the poet Grantland Rice wrote a truism that exists in all interscholastic, non-professional sports. In his poem “Alumnus Football” he wrote, “For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, He marks – not that you won or lost – but how you played the Game.”
Through the years and after millions upon millions of high school basketball, volleyball and other sporting events, that stanza most likely became, “It's not whether you win or lose. It's how you play the game.”
The Lady Wolves varsity basketball squad proved that point on Wednesday and Thursday as they fell in two straight games to the Klawock Lady Chieftans.
As evidenced by their 41-20 loss on Wednesday night – and a much closer 42-27 defeat, despite the final tally – the Lady Wolves persevered and played some of the most aggressive ball seen all season on the home court of Wrangell High School.
Head coach Dane Vincent said his team did the best they could given the competition.
“On Wednesday we came out aggressive, but not as much as I wanted us to,” Vincent said. “Shots weren’t falling and we didn’t get many free throws because we just were not on our game. And tonight, we shot 37 percent compared to Klawock’s 60 percent, even though we came out even more aggressive than the night before.”
That strong level of offensive and defensive play on Thursday night led to the Lady Wolves getting into foul trouble early in the game, with Darian Meissner, MiKayla Stokes and Marsha McCay each drawing multiple penalties
“Offensively, Taylor Bean had a great night Thursday after she hit a couple of three-pointers,” Vincent added. “Kayla Rooney had an excellent game on both nights as well.”
Rooney, while scoring only 2 points on Thursday, was the defensive heartbeat of the game and played with such strength and vigor that she drew the ultimate penalty – a technical foul late in the fourth period.
Stokes led the Lady Wolves on Thursday with 10 points, including a pair of treys, while Bean added a pair from downtown as well. Shayna Schultz put up four points on the night, with Katie Barger, Alyssa Allen and Rooney each sharing deuces on the board.
The Wrangell squad also took two more in the “L” column in Craig last weekend with a 44-29 loss on Friday and much closer 41-35 final score on Saturday.
Haines will come to town this weekend to face the team with varsity action starting after the 6 p.m. JV game.
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