Glacier Bears take two from Wolves

The Wrangell High boys' varsity basketball team lost twice in Haines this weekend.

Friday's 48-60 loss and Saturday's 47-53 brought the Wolves' record against Haines to 2-2 on the season. The Wolves own a conference record of 4-8 and third-place seed headed into the Region V tournament in Juneau March 5, in between second place (and first round opponents) Craig and last-place Haines. Perennial power Metlakatla holds the first place seed in this year's four-team double-elimination tournament. The top two finishers will advance to the state tournament in Anchorage.

The Wolves manhandled the Glacier Bears at earlier home-court games, but couldn't repeat the feat away, in part because of defensive shifts, innate home court advantage, and an infusion of new talent, said Head Coach Ray Stokes.

"It was on their court, which usually has a little bit to do with it," he said. "People play better at home."

Haines baller Devin Light also recently returned to the Haines roster after playing for and against larger 4A schools in Anchorage.

"He's from Haines, then he went away, and all of a sudden he showed up this year," he said. "In fact, I think he showed up the week before we got" to Haines.

"That gave them another quality player they could play," he said.

The Wolves also struggled offensively against a constrictive Glacier Bears zone defense, Ray Stokes said.

"They zoned us and that hurt us," he said. "We typically don't shoot real well from the outside, and on the inside we don't really have a real true post player. When people do that, when they go to that zone, it makes it kind of difficult on us."

"We gotta figure something out for that by tournament time, because we're going to run into it anywhere," Ray Stokes added. "Any team that has watched us will figure that out."

The Wolves have put forth a steady defensive effort throughout the season. A little

slow-footedness plagued them Friday night, leading to a bigger margin of loss, but Wrangell tightened up Saturday and that made the difference between the two games, Stokes said.

"That first night, we didn't get back on defense, and they (Haines) really run," he said. "We got beat back on defense in transition all night long the first night."

"We made a lot of ground the second night," Ray Stokes added. "We just gotta get more people in the scoring column ... if we do, our chances are good, and if we don't, I'm not saying we can't do it, but it's definitely going to be harder."

The inability to make the defensive transitions is due in part to the team's relative youth, Ray Stokes said.

Blake Stokes led the Wrangell offense Friday with 19 points on seven field goals, three from beyond the arc. Robbie Marshall followed with nine points on four field goals and a single free-throw. Tyler Gillen and Aaron Howell tied for third with seven points each.

The Glacier Bears fielded three double-digit scorers in response. Justin Swinton led the Haines offense with 17 points on seven field goals and

three-for-four from the line. Devin Light followed with 15 points on seven field goals and one-for-two from the line. Haines baller Kai Satofranks rounded out the top three with thirteen points.

Saturday, Marshall took a turn atop the scoresheets with 25 points on nine field goals – one a three-pointer – and six-for-eight from the free-throw line. Gillen followed with 11 points on five field goals and one-for-two from the line. Blake Stokes rounded out the top three scorers with a three-pointer and two-for-two.

The Bears again put three scorers into double digits Saturday. Issac Wing led with six field goals, two from beyond the arc. Satofranks

followed with 11 points on four field goals and one-for-two from the line. Light contributed 10 points on two field goals and six-for-eight from the line.

The Wrangell Wolves start tournament play March 5 against the Craig Panthers.