The high school girls basketball team watches the clock run out against Haines in the team's Jan. 16 win. After a comeback win on that first night, the girls team dropped the second matchup the next night 27-37.
Sophia Martinson (right) laughs with Alana Harrison in between free throws on Jan. 17. The previous night, the pair combined for 28 points, but the team's offensive struggles on Jan. 17 left Wrangell at the losing end of the score.
The girls basketball team split their home series against Haines on Jan. 16-17. Though the Wolves won on Thursday 49-46, their offensive struggles reemerged Friday in a 27-37 defeat.
The Wolves, who entered the series with a conference record of 1-3, are now 2-4 on the season. Despite the Friday loss, the packed crowd left the gym with much to be optimistic about.
The Thursday matchup between the Wolves and the Glacier Bears was thrilling from the tipoff. After scoring from Hailey Cook, Sophia Martinsen, Alana Harrison and a three-pointer from Christina Johnson, the Wolves headed into the second quarter up 13-9.
After a Wrangell dry spell, Haines took their first lead of the night in the second quarter and extended the lead to six points as the teams headed into the locker room at halftime with Wrangell trailing 19-25.
After Haines made a bank-shot corner three that was in no way intentional, the air seemed to be sucked out of the Wolves' home gym at the start of the third quarter.
Wrangell had been held to just six points in the second quarter and everything seemed to be going in for the Glacier Bears. But from seemingly nothing, Wrangell found their offensive groove.
Harrison made a couple of contested layups before wriggling around her defender for another layup, cutting the Haines lead to six points. From there, Johnson forced a turnover and then capitalized on it at the other end of the court. Another three from Johnson brought the once out-of-reach Haines lead to just one point. The teams entered the fourth quarter with Wrangell down 37-38.
With five minutes left, the game was tied at 41. After Jenna Eastaugh was fouled shooting and Harrison made a pair of layups, Haines made a substitution to specifically stop Harrison.
It didn't work.
Strong rebounding from Harrison crushed the late Haines hopes. And when she slotted in an outlet pass to Johnson, who was then fouled shooting, the Wrangell tandem iced the game. After drilling both free throws, Wrangell walked off the court victorious, winning 49-46.
Harrison scored 20 points in total with 10 in the first. Both Johnson and Cook added 10 apiece, with Martinson scoring eight. The Wolves' 33 second half points gave the team much to look forward to in the Friday game ahead.
But the optimism didn't last long. A solid opening quarter on Friday stalled out quickly, as Wrangell scored just a single point in the second.
Offensively, the Wolves tend to play with four perimeter players, with Harrison acting as a lone pivot player in the paint, rotating to the strong side as the rest of the team swings the ball around the perimeter. But when Haines doubled up on Harrison on Friday, the Wolves were left stunted, leaving Wrangell with one of two offensive options: win one-on-one matchups or pass around the perimeter until someone is open.
However, the second option is reliant on those three pointers falling, which, unfortunately for the Wolves, they were not.
Though the second quarter was more anomalous than typical, it served as a warning for the team: offensive creativity was needed. Thankfully, that is not something Wrangell is without. A sweet outlet pass from Johnson to Harrison cut the lead to 19-21 with four minutes left in the third. Haines somehow managed another one of those bank-shot three pointers to extend their lead. After an impressive Glacier Bears finish at the rim to follow, the Wolves trailed 21-29.
Though Alexis Easterly added a smooth elbow fadeaway to cut the lead to five, Wrangell soon stalled out, scoring just three points in the fourth and losing the game 27-37. While no Wrangell player scored in the double digits on Friday, the team will have a chance to reclaim its Thursday form at a tournament in Craig this coming weekend.
After the Thursday through Saturday Jan. 23-25 trip to Craig for a multi-school tournament, Wrangell will turn around and host the Craig Panthers on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
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