Boys take one in four-game slog

With a busy week on the road, Wrangell High School’s boys basketball team brought back home one victory from a pair of tournaments.

The Wolves headed to Craig on January 4, though due to their later arrival the junior varsity squad was unable to get play time. The varsity team started out strong, leading by 12 points at the half. Craig bounced back with a whopping 33 points in the third quarter, and though Wrangell was able to retake its lead late in the game, the Panthers were able to turn the score in their favor during a series of free throws in the finishing seconds. Craig won 78-76.

“We had a problem with controlling their guards, they’re pretty fast,” commented Wolves coach Ray Stokes. The Panthers had plenty of fast breaks, he said, with good penetration.

In Thursday’s game Wrangell was able to adjust, winning 62-46.

“We did a lot better job of controlling them and controlling the tempo of the game,” said Stokes.

Their weekend was only just beginning, with the team setting off from there to Metlakatla.

“We got beat pretty good the first night,” Stokes recounted. The Wolves started with a bit of a handicap, playing a scoreless first quarter.

“It was fairly hard for me to believe,” the coach said. Metlakatla is one of the better rated 2A teams in the state, and its defense was tenacious. “They’re a good team. We had a hard time getting a shot in.”

The remainder of Friday’s game was more evenly matched, and Wrangell finished with a score of 31-52.

“We were very competitive with them the second night,” said Stokes, keeping about on step with the hosts throughout. The Chiefs beat the Wolves 55-47.

Stokes noted some high points in the week: Trent Stokes played a solid series against Metlakatla, while Riley Blatchley had a good game Saturday.

“He came out ready to play,” the coach said.

“We’ve seen some bright spots every time,” he went on, but more consistency would be desirable moving forward. “Defensively is where I think we really need to step up the work.”

Wrangell was scheduled to host Haines this week, with the boys set to play games last evening and Thursday afternoon. Pending scores from that series, last week’s games brings the Wolves to 1-5 for the season, and 1-3-0 for Region V.