Lady Wolves claim title at Rally the Regions

The Wrangell Lady Wolves high school basketball team, claimed victory at the fourth annual Rally the Regions Hardwood Classic in Anchorage last week. The tournament, a round-robin style event brings together 2A schools from across the state.

Laurie Brown, coach of the Lady Wolves, said that Rally the Regions is a good opportunity for teams to get a feel for who has a good chance of making it to State.

The tournament took place at Dimond High School from Jan. 2 to 5. Besides Wrangell, teams representing Tok, Haines, Scammon Bay, Cordova, and Selawik were present.

The first two days were very successful for the Lady Wolves beating Tok 70 to 25, and then Selawik 56 to 12. On the third day of the tournament, Jan. 3, Wrangell went up against Cordova. They lost this game by 10 points, 42 to 52. Having won, Cordova advanced to the finals.

However, that did not fully disqualify the Lady Wolves from reaching the finals. The girls' team from Scammon Bay was tied with Wrangell in their record, two wins and one loss. This meant that they were also tied to make it into the finals. The decision of who would advance came down to a one-minute three-point shooting contest. Maddy Harding shot the baskets for the Lady Wolves, with Helen Decker catching the rebounds. When the 60 seconds were up, Wrangell won the contest with seven baskets to Scammon Bay's two.

"She is one of our best shooters, by far," said Coach Laurie Brown.

The Lady Wolves fared better in their rematch against Cordova in the finals. It was a close game, again with only a 10 point difference, but Wrangell was able to come out victorious. The final score was 51 to 41, favoring Wrangell.

"It's awesome," Brown said. "The girls are really excited, they were really hungry that last game ... It was a really good start to our season."

Wrangell will be hosting its first home games of the season this weekend, playing against Craig High School.