By Don Nash
In their regular season openers last weekend, Glacier Bears varsity
basketball teams dished up a special present to longtime fans – a thrilling,
four-game sweep of the Mount Edgecumbe Braves.
The perfect series by the boys’ and girls’ varsity teams was
the first in memory against Edgecumbe, and Thursday’s win by the girls the first home
victory over the Lady Braves in eight years.
The 16-member state champion cheerleading squad charged crowds that
packed the gym for the games while loyal Edgecumbe alumni shouted encouragement to the
visitors.
On Friday, Kyle Fossman’s last-second basket from deep in the
corner sealed a madcap series finale, ending an Edgecumbe surge in a game dramatized by a
scoreboard clock that died in the third quarter, forcing a scorer to announce a countdown
of the game’s final minutes.
"It was definitely one of the most exciting games in my
memory," said coach Steve Fossman. "I don’t remember the gym being that
loud as far back as I can remember."
On Thursday, girls’ coach Brian Elliot introduced a
three-quarter-court, 1-3-1 press that proved too strong for the Braves. Fans got to see
what speed and commitment can do when combined with conditioning and fundamentals.
Sam Clay led the attack with 13 points. Teslyn Visscher scored 12, Fran
Daly, 11, and Christine Hansen, 10. J.J. Lende and Carlee Heinmiller had four each.
Edgecumbe raised a scare in the fourth quarter when the swarming
defense of the Bears seemed to lag and the Braves came within a few possessions of taking
the game away. A steal and layup in the final minute by Hansen capped the 54-49 win.
On Friday, eight of 10 Haines girls scored, with Clay once again
leading the way. With no letup on defense, the Glacier Bears held the Braves to just nine
first-half points and cruised to a 43-31 win. Jolene Lemieux scored her first conference
points and drew a huge cheer from the stands.
Other scoring: Clay, 11, Hansen, 9, Visscher and J.J. Lende, 6, Daly,
4, Stoli Lende, 3 and Heinmiller and Lemieux, 2. The girls shot 63 percent from the
free-throw line in the series, with Hansen making seven of 10.
With numerous steals and tipped balls, barely allowing the Braves to
get comfortable in their offense, Stoli Lende helped boost the Haines defense, which
showed team-wide hustle and the work of assistant coach Stuart Dewitt, who has been
drilling fundamentals.
Braves girls’ coach Carl Blackhurst arrived here with his team the
day the newspaper printed his father’s obituary. He said he had spent two weeks with
his ailing father and arrived back in Sitka in time for one practice before heading to
Haines. Combine that with leaving some upper classmen at home for this series and the Lady
Bears may have a tougher time when they travel to Edgecumbe later in the season.
Conditioning may have been the only factor separating the Glacier Bear
boys from the Braves. After an extended Christmas break, the Braves looked flat and out of
sync. With strong drives into the defense by Fossman and Orion Falvey, the boys opened up
the outside game and sank 10 three-pointers in the two contests, four by Fossman, and
three each for James Hart and Falvey.
Ryan Olsen capitalized on the inside-outside game and was near perfect
the first night. His 22 points led series scoring and came mostly in tough, turnaround
jump shots in heavy traffic.
At halftime Thursday, the score was tied at 29. A strong third quarter
and tough defense late in the fourth helped ensure the Bears’ victory, 63-56.
The boys led at halftime Friday, 34-24, but a malfunctioning game clock
went dead just as the Braves came alive, knocking the Bears off balance in the kind of
third quarter that coaches dread. Haines scored only three to Edgecumbe’s 19,
contributing to a 25-6 run by the visitors.
The final period began with no visible clock and the Glacier Bears down
by six. Falvey made a three-pointer and Chandler Kemp scored his only basket at a crucial
point in the game with a bare minute left.
With 17 seconds remaining, coach Fossman called time-out with the ball
at half court. Hart passed to Amadeo Cornacchione, who gave the ball to Kyle Fossman, who
drove down the right side. As the crowd chanted down the seconds, Fossman swished a
three-point jump shot at the buzzer, proving why he’s a team leader. He outscored
Edgecumbe 13-10 in the final period. Final score was 56-53.
Fossman credited the winning shot to two screens set by teammates that
allowed him to drive in either direction toward the hoop. "I got a pretty good look.
For the last shot of the game, I thought it was a good look."
The boys shot 72 percent from the free-throw line Thursday and 80
percent Friday. Thursday scoring: Olsen, 22, Fossman, 15, Hart, 12, Cornacchione, 8, and
Falvey, 7. Friday scoring: Fossman, 20, Falvey, 14, Hart and Cornacchione, 9 each, Olsen
and Kemp, 2 each.
On Friday night, Haines High School alumni Sarah Swinton and Carl
Blackhurst were given a round of applause by the crowd for their induction into the Alaska
High School Hall of Fame.
The boys take on the Metlakatla Chiefs Thursday and Friday with JV
games starting at 6:30 pm. The girls will play at Metlakatla.
