Haines sophomore Devin Light dribbles past a metlakatla player on Friday night.
Senior Brandon Haxton’s dunk on Saturday closed out another strong second half for the Haines boys’ basketball team, which topped Metlakatla twice last weekend at home.
“We encourage aggressive play, and that’s good to see,” said coach Steve Fossman. “It shows a guy’s making a decisive move and finishing it.”
The Glacier Bears relied on dominant third quarters each night to distance themselves from Metlakatla on the scoreboard. Haines won 76-53 on Friday and 84-62 on Saturday.
Senior Tyler Swinton led with 20 points the first night, followed by senior Devin Braaten, 14; sophomore Devin Light, 11; junior Caullen Taylor, 10; senior Parker Schnabel, 8; sophomore Justin Swinton, 7; and seniors Haxton, Logan Simpson and junior Reik Fischer with 2 apiece.
Fossman credited Braaten, who scored several baskets in the lane.
“He looks pretty efficient when he catches the ball and makes a quick score in there, but there’s a lot of hard work that goes into getting that position,” Fossman said. “Nobody works harder than Devin on the court.”
Braaten tossed in 15 points Saturday, closely trailing Tyler Swinton, with 18, and Haxton, who had 16. Simpson added 12 points, Justin Swinton, 8; Schnabel, 6; Light, 5; and Taylor, 4.
“The second night, we had really balanced scoring from the three big guys, and the guards are playing better at getting out on the fast break,” Fossman said. “A lot of that is due to Tyler Swinton really dominating the defensive rebounding; that’s the reason we can run.”
The Haines junior varsity trailed Metlakatla both nights, losing 59-50 on Friday and 63-59 on Saturday. Light scored 26 points over the two games. Other scorers were sophomore Isaac Wing, 23; Fischer, 22; sophomore John Gross, 12; sophomore Chris Turner, 8; sophomore Chevy Fowler, 6; freshman Keanu Lynch, 6; sophomore Kai Sato-Franks, 5; and sophomore James Morgan, 1.
The Haines varsity next will host a Whitehorse squad, during breaks at the Dick Hotch Memorial Basketball Tournament this weekend at Karl Ward Gymnasium. As of press time Wednesday, the Glacier Bear games were scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.
“They should be good games,” Fossman said. “I know they have a couple big guys that should match up well with our big guys.”
The Haines girls split with Metlakatla, falling 54-46 on Friday and recovering for a 43-33 win on Saturday. Senior Hannah Wing poured in 31 points in a losing effort, and then tallied 20 in the victory.
Saturday, senior Amey Messerschmidt had 8 points, senior Marnie Rasmussen, 7; senior Ashley Messerschmidt, 6; and senior Anna Jacobson, 2. There were no JV games.
The girls’ varsity this week headed to Delta Junction for a tournament.