The holidays won’t be much of a break for Haines High School’s basketball teams, with out-of-town tournaments leading into the Jan. 2 opening of conference play.
The Haines girls this week were on their way to Petersburg to compete in the Little Norway Tournament. The Glacier Bears’ schedule included the host Vikings on Thursday (Dec. 18), Ketchikan on Friday and Metlakatla on Saturday.
The Glacier Bear boys also are set to get some competition in this weekend, as they head to Whitehorse.
Next up for the boys is the Capital City Classic in Juneau. According to the Juneau-Douglas website, the event will run from Dec. 27-30, featuring Haines, the Crimson Bears, and teams from Idaho and Washington. The schedule shows Haines will open the round-robin tournament against JDHS at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27.
Before school is back in session, the Glacier Bears will launch their conference slate, Jan. 2-3 vs. Wrangell; the Haines boys will be away and the girls at home. Game times at Karl Ward Gymnasium are 6 p.m. for junior varsity and 7:30 p.m. for varsity.
Haines fans can see the Glacier Bear girls compete at home for three consecutive weeks, said coach Greg Brittenham. A trip to Yakutat the weekend following the Wrangell series has been canceled due to low participation there, he said, and the new plan that weekend is for the Haines varsity to welcome Whitehorse and Juneau teams for games, while the JV travels to Skagway. Conference play resumes Jan. 16-17, with the girls hosting Craig.
That means residents will have plenty of opportunities to see Brittenham, a first-year coach in Haines but with a resume that includes 20 years with the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association and experience at the Division I collegiate level with Wake Forest University.
Brittenham said his squad of 16 athletes has “no reason to be in awe” of his credentials.
“I’ll make mistakes as much as anybody else,” he said.
Game recaps and season outlooks will be printed in the Jan. 8 CVN.