Wolves lose twice in Metlakatla

The Wrangell High School varsity boy’s basketball team dropped two games to Metlakatla last weekend.

The Wolves would lead Friday night by four points at the half, before losing 49-29. A tied score at halftime Saturday would turn into a 45-29 loss for the Wolves. Either game came down to guard play, and the Wolves are still developing offensively, said assistant coach Jason Clark.

“We’re still a work in progress with our offense,” he said. “We have a really good defense right now, we’re just trying to get those extra pieces in on our offense.”

Metlakatla’s guards allowed them to walk off the court as winners, Clark said.

“They (Metlakatla) have some pretty tough guards,” he said. “I take nothing away from them. They played a really good game both nights.”

The Wolves have shown improvement on defending the inside, Clark said.

Friday night, sophomore Tyler Gillen led the Wolves scorers with seven points on two three-point field goals and a free throw. He was followed by junior Michael Ottesen and senior Robbie Marshall, with six points each.

“Mikey Ottesen did a very good job with his point guard play, just guarding the ball,” he said.

The Chiefs answered with a twosome of Tristans. Tristan Winter notched 17 points from the field and tacked on one more from the line for 18. Tristan Alexander scored 11 points from the field.

Saturday night Marshall was atop the Wrangell score charts again with 12 points, two field goals, two three pointers and two from the line. Sophomores Blake Stokes and Bryce Gerald followed with six points each.

Alexander topped his Friday night totals with 15 points, followed by Drew Ylinemi with 13 points.

The numbers on the board leave the Wolves without a regular season win thus far, though that doesn’t bother Clark.

“Like I said, when it comes to tournament time we’re gonna get our offense down and hit a groove and be competitive,” he said.

The Wolves continue their season Friday and Saturday at home against Haines.