Wrangell High junior Aaron Howell, left, in the air, attempts to score in the paint against Craig High junior Keyan Bird Saturday in the second of two games played at home against Craig. Craig eventually won the match 44-40.
After leading by as many as five points in two games against the visiting Panthers this weekend, the high school boys basketball team marked a pair of single-digit losses.
Craig varsity took the opener Friday night 53-50 in overtime on the back of a pair of three-point shots, one by senior Keyan Bird and the other by sophomore Bryar Backman. They repeated the feat a night later, beating the home team 44-40 in regulation.
"We got out-rebounded terribly, especially tonight," said head coach Ray Stokes. "They played hard. We were kind of playing nervous, and they're young. These guys were big and pretty much beat us up inside. We gotta get a little more physical and determined. It seemed like we just made the game real difficult."
The opener broke a lot of Wrangell hearts, particularly when, tied at halftime with 26 points each, the Panthers went on an 8-0 unanswered run to move ahead by four in the third quarter. The Wolves answered back to tie the game 47 apiece at the end of regulation. Marshall sank a three-pointer from behind the line to put the Wolves up, but the Panthers answered with two long shots of their own to seal the win.
The Panthers employed a pair of dominant inside upperclassmen, 6'6" senior Lincoln Isaacs and 6'4" junior Erik Scheidecker, to take away post scoring opportunities from 6'3" Wrangell senior Robbie Marshall in both games.
Key rebound contributor sophomore Bryce Gerald ran into foul trouble early in both games, and spent a portion of the first halves watching from the sidelines. Gerald and junior Mikey Ottesen both fouled out of Friday night's game. The closest any Wrangell player would come on Saturday was junior Mason Dingwall with four personal fouls.
"Bryce is definitely somebody we need on the floor," Stokes said. "But you know, like I said, they're young, and hopefully we can learn from it."
The Wolves still found ways to score. Sophomore Blake Stokes and Marshall each tallied double-digit contributions in both games.
The Wolves struggled to convert points from the free-throw line, shooting 6-for-15 Friday night and 1-for-8 Saturday night.
Craig responded with overwhelming offensive performances. Trojan, Sheidecker and Isaacs each put up double digits Friday. The second night, Isaccs and Backman combined for 34 points, with Isaacs racking up 21 and Backman adding 13 of his own, nine of which came from behind the arc.
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