Julia Miethe and Helen Decker tumble after the ball with a Nenana player during their opening game at State last Thursday. The Lady Wolves lost their first game, but went on to take the back half of the bracket with fourth place.
Heading to State for the first time in over a decade, the Wrangell Lady Wolves finished their season fourth among Alaska's 2A schools last weekend.
After fighting for second place the previous weekend during Region V, the high school girls joined Alaska's best at the 1A/2A Basketball State Championships, held jointly at Anchorage's Alaska Airlines and Wells Fargo Sports centers.
"It was a really good weekend," said Wrangell coach Laurie Brown.
Her team had had a rough start at the season's beginning, but by the end finished 10-8 for the division, just behind Craig and the undefeated Miss Chiefs. After winning Region V, Metlakatla would go on to take second at State this year.
In the team's first game of the tournament on March 15, it met up with Nenana, an undefeated team from the Interior.
"That was definitely an experience-building game for our girls," Brown said.
Their opponents were experienced and fast on their feet, Brown recalled, but Wrangell's girls kept the game close to the very end, finishing just behind 44-47. Kaylyn Easterly was named player of the game, while for the opener Anna Allen and Maddy Harding were awarded for their good sportsmanship.
During its next game the following day, Wrangell came up against Glennallen, which had itself freshly lost to eventual tournament champs Tikigaq. Wrangell outscored their opponents during each of the first three periods, leading 32-24 heading into the final eight minutes. Glennallen tried for a come-back heading into the final minutes, but Wrangell was able to end it 41-38.
"They were able to pull out the win," Brown said.
Playing for fourth in the final on Saturday, Wrangell next came up against Dillingham, which had won by a similarly close margin over Unalakleet the previous day. Dillingham's girls were on average taller than Wrangell's, but the Lady Wolves were quicker on the court, harrying them on defense and picking up more rebounds. Leading throughout the game, Wrangell won 54-36.
During the game Anna Allen was named player of the game for her performance, while Helen Decker was named player of the game after the Glennallen game.
"Those were games they shined in," said Brown.
Among 2A teams, Wrangell's earned the Sportsmanship Award for its players' conduct. The team also was given the All-Academic Award, with its girls' collective grade-point average - a solid 3.88. Decker and Easterly were further named to the All-Tournament Team.
The tournament went well enough for Wrangell's first showing in a very long time, and Brown felt her players were on their way to another statewide competition next year. Of them, Allen will be graduating out, while only three other players are juniors. The rest have at least a couple more seasons left to them, meaning the team has room to grow from here.
"We plan on going back," Brown promised.
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