Alana Harrison (center) contests a shot from Craig's Sara Steffan while Alexis Easterly (left) and Jenna Eastaugh close down the shooter on Feb. 3. While the girls basketball team dropped the opening game of the home series, they bounced back, winning 52-35 the following night.
After the weekend slate of home games was rescheduled to Monday and Tuesday nights, Feb. 3-4, the girls high school basketball team was left with just two days of rest before their next games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8.
In an early week homestand against Craig, the Wolves split the series before getting swept by Ketchikan's junior varsity squad on the subsequent weekend road trip.
On Feb. 3, Wrangell dropped a close battle against Craig 55-60 before dominating the Panthers the following night, winning 52-35. In the opening game of the Ketchikan series, the Wolves dropped the Feb. 7 matchup 39-41 before losing again the following day, 31-45.
Thankfully for the Wolves, the Ketchikan JV sweep will not affect the team's conference standing. After the run of four games in six days, Wrangell's 3-5 conference record places them at fourth in Southeast. While they are tied with Craig for the second most wins in the conference, their Southeast-high five losses sink them to fourth place.
The Craig series showcased Wrangell's ability to adjust to the strengths of their opponent. In the first matchup, they stunted Craig's center, who had hurt them heavily earlier in the season. When the Panthers' point guard drained seven threes, though, Wrangell came out on the second night with a more optimized game plan. They managed to eliminate both threats and won the game handily, giving probably their best performance of the season.
Alana Harrison led the Wolves in scoring on Feb. 3, finishing the game with 27 points, 22 of which came in the second and third quarters. Across both games, Craig was unable to stop Harrison, as every possession for the Wrangell center seemed to end with either a score or shots from the line - or often, both.
Though the Ketchikan games were not as successful from a results perspective, Alexis Easterly shined on both days. On Feb. 7, the forward led the team in scoring with 15 points. She followed it up with a 19-point show that included three first-half threes.
Up next, Wrangell will play at Talkeetna in a Valentine's Day tournament with games held from Thursday, Feb. 13, to Saturday, Feb. 15. After that, Wrangell will return home for the final homestand of the year. Petersburg will come to town for the Wolves' homecoming series on Feb. 21-22.
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