The AAU schedule lays out game times for the coming four days. The Stikine Hoops Invitational is the middle school basketball program's fourth time hosting other teams from Petersburg, Juneau and Sitka. Ketchikan was unable to make this weekend's tournament. Teams will be divided into A and B brackets, with the A-bracket teams starting their main tournament Saturday afternoon at the high school gym. Entry is by donation.
Wrangell's Amateur Athletics Union basketball program will be hosting its 2018 invitational this weekend.
A gap bridging program for middle school girls interested in the sport, this is the Wrangell program's fifth year in operation, and the regional tournament will be the fourth it has hosted so far. Students from Petersburg, Sitka and Juneau will be making the trip, with play for seeding starting this evening at 4 p.m.
Juneau and Sitka will be fielding three teams each, while Wrangell and Petersburg will each sport two. Wrangell coach Penny Allen explained teams will be divided up into A and B brackets depending on skill set. The initial A-bracket games will set things up for a double elimination style tournament stretching over Saturday and Sunday.
This year Allen said the Wrangell program has 15 girls playing. Five of them are eighth graders, who have played through their team's last two winning seasons. But there are also a number of younger students stepping up this year, Allen explained, including some fifth graders.
Divided into two teams, Wrangell's B squad has already played one tournament this year, in Petersburg. For the A team this weekend will be its first of the year. Afterward, it will next be headed to Juneau later next month for its annual Mike Jackson Memorial Tournament, which the team has won two years running.
"We're going for a third," said Allen.
Expenses for the program can be tough to manage, running around $20,000 for a season. Costs primarily go to covering travel, but also include gym rental for practices and equipment. To keep things going, the team has approached local businesses for sponsorships. Through their support Allen said the teams will be able to customize their own tournament shirts for the coming weekend.
The program will also be selling concessions for part of the weekend, and holding a 50/50 raffle throughout.
"The money we raise goes toward the whole program," she said.
To support the high school senior class, students' parents will have a go at running the concessions Friday night and Saturday morning.
Games will be split between the community center and high school courts, with the A-bracket tournament set to start Saturday at 2:40 p.m. An award ceremony will cap the weekend off, set for 2:20 p.m. on Sunday.
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