Alana Harrison (11, far left) stretches for a rebound in play against the Petersburg Vikings on Saturday, Jan. 11. The Lady Wolves split their two weekend games in Petersburg.
After a slow start, the Wrangell High School girls basketball team secured their first win of the season in Petersburg on Saturday, Jan. 11. The Wolves split the two-game series with their rivals, dropping the Friday game 34-36 before rebounding on Saturday in a 47-33 triumph.
Wrangell now sits third in Southeast (1-3) but will look to make up ground on Haines (1-1) in a two-game home stand Thursday and Friday.
Though the Wolves dropped the first game by just two points, it wasn't because they started off slow. In her return to play, sophomore Alana Harrison did her best microwave impression, heating up quick and scoring six points in the first quarter. A Christina Johnson three and a couple of twos from Alexis Easterly exploded Wrangell's first-quarter scoring.
But that scoring disappeared pretty quickly. After a 15-point first, the Wolves scored just eight points in the second and third quarters combined. Despite an 11-point rally in the fourth, the deficit was too big to overcome, and the Wolves dropped the Friday game by just two points.
Easterly led the team in scoring with 16 points, including six in the fourth. Johnson continued to prove a legitimate threat beyond the arc, scoring the team's only two three-pointers, and Harrison rounded out her season debut with eight points.
On Saturday, the Wolves exorcized their middle-quarter scoring woes. A 19-point third quarter barrage buried any Petersburg hopes of victory as the Wolves pulled out to an insurmountable lead.
A strong three-point showing to open the Saturday game set the tone early as Easterly, Johnson and Hailey Cook all scored from deep in the first quarter. Though the second quarter was quieter on the offensive front, Wrangell's seven-point scoring output was nearly double their second-quarter tally from the previous day.
The Wolves went into halftime up 20-12. And if Petersburg thought they had any hope to comeback in the second half, Easterly dashed those dreams. Three pointer: good. Fouled: two-for-two from the line. Fouled again: two for three from the line.
Johnson and Cook added a three each in the third, adding to Easterly's seven-point quarter. By the time the fourth quarter began, Wrangell had already scored 19 points since halftime. A pair of twos from Harrison and another strong showing from the line from Easterly sealed the Wolves' Saturday victory.
Wrangell scored a season-high 47 points. Easterly unsurprisingly led the way with 17 of her own. Cook added 12 and Harrison hit double digits in just her second game of the season.
The Wolves will next play at home against Haines on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 7:30 p.m. On Friday, they will play the second leg of the series, this time at 6 p.m.
Sentinel reporter Sam Pausman will provide live coverage of both games on the Wrangell Community Group Facebook page.
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