Selah Purviance works on her shooting form during practice on Dec. 4. Purviance, a 5-foot-9 freshman, will compete for minutes down low this season. The high school girls basketball team is scheduled to host Metlakatla on Dec. 20-21 in its season opener.
"You have to do hard better."
That's what high school girls basketball coach Christy Good keeps telling her players. It's a phrase that she likes to fall back on, a mantra of sorts. Though those six words may not have any tangible meaning, they encapsulate Good's understanding of the game of basketball: Do the hard stuff and results will follow.
Good, who is now in her fourth season as head coach, sat down with the Sentinel on Dec. 5 to discuss the upcoming season, her mindset as a coach and even a little '80s hoops.
Since winning the Southeast title in 2022, the team has been rebuilding, a process that could start to yield results as soon as this season. The 12-player roster (pending any last-minute additions) is still strikingly young. Nine of the 12 are either freshmen or sophomores, and Vanessa Johnson is the only senior.
But this isn't anything new. Last year, the team graduated just two seniors, which gave Good the opportunity to play plenty of her underclassmen. Now, some of those younger players are ready to take the next step.
Wrangell's sophomore class is the core of the team, a "fab four" so to speak. Headlined by Alana Harrison, a forward with guard skills who captained the team as a freshman, the four players have played alongside one another since elementary school.
"They just know each other so well," Good said of the sophomores. "I saw that in them as freshmen and I think it's going to be a really, really good season for them."
Conveniently, the sophomore class is extremely well balanced. Shooting specialist Alexis Easterly will likely play down low while Sophia Martinson and Hailey Cook will plug in at the guard spots.
Christina Johnson, a junior guard, will compete for a spot in the starting five while her classmate, Shailyn Johnson, will offer the Wolves another option down low. Good has also liked what she's seen from Selah Purviance, a "raw but coachable" 5-foot-9 freshman who could potentially contribute at forward or center.
This year, Good wants to emphasize the small details that, when compounded together, lead to winning basketball games. The ability to dribble well with both hands, tight decision making, defensive intensity and excellence on the fast break are the traits Good wants this year's team to display. She envisions a team that not only wants to outwork the competition but is capable of doing so.
Despite having just three players at the first practice of the year on Dec. 4 (due to the ongoing volleyball and wrestling seasons), Good made sure to hammer home the importance of conditioning.
"If you're not in good condition, you're not gonna win," she said. "All of our drills have some conditioning. We never practice set shots; shooting is always conditioned."
Her mindset is pragmatic, a point proven by naming a freshman to captain the team last year. Her expectations for all her players are the same: buy in and learn. But this also means that everyone is held to the same standards, regardless of class-year, previous experience, or even what they did the week before.
For Good, the players that will give the team the highest chance to win are the ones that are going to play. And if you're on the bench, you better take advantage of the opportunity to watch the game from up close.
"The bench is a classroom," she said. "When you're on the bench, I want them to watch and learn. The bench is just as important as the starting five."
Kaelene Harrison will serve as the team's assistant coach. Though Mike Hoyt will fill in at the position until Harrison gets back in town later this month.
The girls will have their first games on Dec. 20-21, when they will play host to Metlakatla. This is the first of four home series this season. The second of which will take place against Haines on Jan 17-18 before Craig comes to town from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1. The final home games of the year will be against Petersburg on Feb 22-23.
The Wolves will have a bye week before the March 5-8 region championships in Ketchikan. Anchorage hosts the state championship this year, which will take place on March 13-15. The top two finishers from Southeast will make the trip to state.
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