Girls basketball team takes second place at Craig tournament

The Wrangell girls basketball team took second in the inaugural Southeast Alaska Cultural Tournament, held in Craig from Jan. 23 to Jan. 25.

After some back-to-back wins against the Ketchikan junior varsity team and Klawock, Wrangell eventually fell to hosts Craig in the championship game. Wrangell returned home adorned with a silver medal and a chip on their shoulder ahead of the upcoming rematches against Craig on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in Wrangell.

Wrangell started off the tournament strong, beating the Ketchikan JV team 44-31. Their next matchup was against Klawock, the winner advancing to the tournament championship game. Despite scoring just 17 points in the first three quarters combined, the Wolves capped the matchup with a 16-point fourth quarter and won the game 33-16.

In the championship game, Wrangell awaited a Craig team that had dropped down to the losers bracket following a loss to Klawock, the same Klawock team that managed just 16 points against Wrangell.

Craig went on to beat Wrangell in the championship, 65-38. Craig’s win was due in large part to a strong performance from star Sara Steffen’s 36 points.

Though the loss will certainly sting, the positive showing at the tournament will give the girls team a much-needed boost amid an otherwise up-and-down season.

“It was a great confidence booster for us. This tournament was a big win for us. We may not have won the championship per se, but we did a lot of good things,” head coach Christy Good said.

The girls return to the high school gym for a brief homestand this weekend against Craig. The visitor’s 2-0 conference record is enough for them to sit atop the Southeast standings, while the Wolves sit in fourth at 2-4.

“We have Craig coming to us Friday and Saturday, and for me this is a big distinguishing part to see how good we can really be against a team that’s really good,” Good said.

After the homestand against Craig, Wrangell will have a bye week before competing in an out-of-conference tournament at Talkeetna on Valentine’s Day. Their next conference opponent will again be at home, this time against Petersburg on Feb. 21-22 in the homecoming series.