Here is an update on the Region Five Basketball Tournament, under way in Sitka this week.
In the 4-A girls tournament, Ketchikan’s Lady Kings advanced in the first round of the Region V Tournament Tuesday with a win over Juneau’s Thunder Mountain, 53 to 42.
The Lady Kings were to meet top-seeded Juneau-Douglas High School Wednesday afternoon.
Junior Jayley Taylor led all scorers with 24 points for the Lady Kings. Freshman Eliah Anderson scored 6 points in the first quarter, and brought in 11 for the game.
The Lady Falcons had balanced scoring in their loss. Senior Jonelle Staveland put up 14 points, sophomores Sarah Morris and Ashley Young scored 9 and 6 respectively.
Thunder Mountain moves to the bottom bracket in the double-elimination tournament , but can still vie for the coveted berth to state. The Lady Falcons will play the loser of Wednesday’s contest between Juneau-Douglas and Ketchikan, and could move into the title game.
In the 4A boys tournament, the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears fell to the Ketchikan Kings 51-47 in Tuesday’s opening round.
The game was every bit as close as the 4-point final difference suggests: The Crimson Bears were within a basket of tying the game with less than a minute to play, but clutch free-throw shooting by the Kings put things out of reach.
Kayhi had three players in double-digits: Juniors Omar Mendoza and Malik Almenzor each had 12. Sophomore Alex Pihl put up 10.
Juneau’s Phillip Fenumiai led all scorers with 14. Senior Keith Ainsworth scored 10.
The Kings will advance in the winner’s bracket and were to play top-seeded Thunder Mountain Wednesday afternoon, starting at 4:45 p.m. The Crimson Bears will meet the loser of that game on Thursday.
This year’s 2A, 3A and 4A tournament is at Sitka’s Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Twenty teams are competing for berths to the state tournament in Anchorage.
