Boys and cheer squad take second, head to State

Wrangell secured berths to the State Tournament for its boys basketball team and cheer squad last weekend after each took second place during the Region V 2A at Mt. Edgecumbe High School.

After playing a hard-fought couple of games, the Lady Wolves concluded its season on Thursday.

Playing Craig March 9, the girls took the lead in the second quarter and led at the half. The Lady Panthers landed a lot of free throws through the third to keep apace of Wrangell, then scored a net of 10 points to regain the lead and the victory.

"We lost the first game by four points – it was a really good game throughout," commented Wrangell coach Edna Nore.

Playing Haines the next evening in the leftward bracket, the Lady Wolves held the lead by the first quarter and were close by halftime, but fell behind the next quarter. A tightly contested final quarter saw players fouling to slow the clock, but Wrangell was unable to close the gap. Haines moved on in the tournament with a 50-40 win.

"The girls finished strong this season," Nore said, with three wins under their belts.

In Wednesday's match against Metlakatla the Wolves were dogged from the get-go, with the Chiefs taking an early lead and subsequently building each quarter. The game ended with Wrangell trailing 30 to 50.

Vying now for second, on Thursday Wrangell paired off against Haines and walloped the Glacier Bears with double-digit scores every quarter for a 65 to 37 win. The Wolves did more of the same to Craig next evening, with 20-, 15-, 20- and 16-point quarters for a 71 to 38 win.

The Wolves rematched with the Chiefs on Saturday night, which was a reversal of fortunes. Wrangell built its lead after every quarter, finishing off at the last with a 59 to 22 win.

"I thought defensively we played pretty well the entire tournament, including the game we got beat pretty bad by Metlakatla – we couldn't make a basket," said Wrangell coach Ray Stokes. "We kind of just motored through it after that. Especially the last game there, we had four guys in double-figures and some balanced scoring. It really looked good.

"Bryce Gerald was very dominant with rebounding and steals, and Trent (Stokes) did a great job with rebounds as well," he went on. "Every kid contributed big-time in one or more categories. It's kind of unique that every kid scored during the tournament. Really it was a team effort."

Coached by Megan Clark and Anna Hagelman, Wrangell's Cheer Squad took second place after Petersburg, and will be accompanying the boys team to Anchorage for State.

Wrangell students took home a number of awards as well. Amy Jenson, Gerald and Blake Stokes were all named to the All-Conference Team, and also received All-Academic awards along with Cassie Shilling, Kari Massin, Curtis Wimberley, Kyla Teat, Teresa Flores, Tyler Gillen and Chester Armstrong.

Grace Cano, Tarren Privett, Dawson Miller and Josephine Lewis earned individual Sportsmanship awards, and the school as a whole received a trophy for its conduct over the season.

"I thought Wrangell, in my opinion, definitely deserved the sportsmanship award. I can't think of anybody with better sportsmanship than us," said Stokes. He thought it reflected well on the community, and showed that the prize was not just a consolation. "That's pretty unique to win a berth and the sportsmanship reward both."

"Overall it is a community effort," Nore said. In addition to her students, she appreciated the fans, referees, scorers and high school staff who made the season possible. "Wrangell's really good about helping the team out."

The Wolves play Game 8 against division leaders Unalaska tonight at 9 p.m.

"They put us with the big dogs there pretty early," Stokes said. "They are tough, they pretty much have everybody there from last year."

Tough they may be, but not insurmountable, and Stokes said his team will be going for number one.

"I'm very proud of them," he said. "They've had a hell of a season and I think they far exceeded the expectations most people had of them."