Daniel Harrison finishes over the Petersburg defender in action at the Wrangell gym on Feb. 21. The boys team won both homecoming matchups against the Vikings.
Toward the end of the first millennium, Vikings were known for their effectiveness as a warrior culture. Their intention was not to win land but instead to pillage and plunder, seizing all the resources they could glean from enemy villages.
When Petersburg stepped off their boat to play in Wrangell last weekend, one can only imagine this is how they wanted the two-game away trip to go, a reflection of the tired tropes of their mascot: Get off the boat, win a couple of battles (games), hop back on the boat and go home.
That's not exactly what happened.
The Wrangell boys basketball team defeated Petersburg in back-to-back games on Friday, Feb. 21, and Saturday, Feb. 22. The Wolves won a tight first game 50-42 before a 61-33 thrashing the following day.
The Friday matchup echoed every possible cliché about rivalry games. It was scrappy and sloppy. It was slow and unsteady; neither team seemed able to find a rhythm. Neither Petersburg's 0-8 Southeast record nor Wrangell's 6-2 record seem to matter all that much either. Rivalry games have a strange ability to even the playing field. Friday's game was no exception.
Keaton Gadd led the Wolves in scoring with 15 points, nine of which came from first-half three-pointers. Daniel Harrison and Trevyn Gillen both made it to double digits, scoring 10 apiece. But there was no denying it: It was far from the Wolves' best performance.
When the final buzzer sounded, cementing Wrangell's victory over their rivals, the only smiles and cheers came from the stands. When Harrison walked off the court, he could be seen saying, "So bad" to himself, over and over again.
Night two was different - very different. The intensity that the Vikings brought to the first night was unsustainable. And Wrangell, possibly motivated by a performance they weren't too proud of on Friday, left no room for error on Saturday.
Maybe it was the crowd, or maybe it was the fact that this was the last game Wrangell's five seniors would ever play in their home gym, or maybe it was just because they really wanted to give it to Petersburg. But whatever the reason, it worked: Wrangell shot lights out, winning by an incredible 28 points. The Vikings hardly stood a chance.
After the homestand, the Wolves will have some time to recuperate. They are on a bye week this weekend before traveling to Ketchikan for the Southeast championship March 5-8. While Metlakatla remains the favorite to win the title, both first- and second-place teams will automatically qualify for state. The third-place finisher is eligible for an at-large bid to the tournament held in Anchorage on March 13-15.
Wrangell currently sits confidently in second in Southeast, ahead of Craig and Haines.
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