Haines High School junior Kayley Swinton earned MVP honors at a Cordova basketball tournament last weekend.
“It was a great team effort to help place her in a position to dominate the opponent,” said coach Greg Brittenham.
Swinton averaged 18 points per game for the Glacier Bear girls, who went 0-3 at the event. The Haines boys also were 0-3, but had two near-misses to send their first game into overtime.
The girls opened with a 53-39 loss to Bristol Bay on Thursday. Brittenham noted Swinton’s 24 points topped the boys’ and girls’ fields that day. Senior Paige Winge and junior Autumn Gross added 6 points apiece.
Cordova then edged the Glacier Bears, 35-33, on Friday, when Swinton tallied a dozen points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. Senior Natalia Taylor had 9 points; junior Destinee Cowart, 6; Gross, 5; and junior Jenae Larson, 1. Cordova drained a shot at the buzzer to take the victory.
“We did everything we needed to do, except win the game,” Brittenham said.
The Glacier Bears’ tournament ended with a 60-45 loss to a Palmer junior varsity squad Saturday, in a game that “was a whole lot closer than that score,” Brittenham said.
Swinton scored 18 points; Cowart, 11; Gross and Larson, 5; Winge, 3; Taylor, 2; and sophomore Olivia Wing, 1.
Along with Swinton’s scoring flurry that helped land her the MVP trophy as voted on by opposing coaches, Brittenham said other highlights were Cowart snatching 11 rebounds per game and Haines cutting down on turnovers, playing more aggressive defense, and getting to the free-throw line with “far more physical” play.
“It was a well-run tournament,” Brittenham said. “We really enjoyed it and would love to go back.”
The Glacier Bear boys were one basket from overtime in a 39-36 loss to Bristol Bay, but missed two long-distance attempts in the final seconds.
Senior Keegan Sundberg had 9 points; junior Matthew Green, 7; senior Josh Stearns, 6; freshman Dylan Swinton, 5; senior Kyle Klinger, 4; senior Keanu Lynch, 3; and freshman Hudson Sage, 2. Senior sharpshooter Jordan Badger missed the tournament due to injury.
Host Cordova overpowered Haines in the second game, 62-17.
“They were a handful for us,” said coach Steve Fossman. “They’re pretty big, and real aggressive.”
Sundberg scored 9 points; sophomore Jacob Stigen, 4; and Lynch and Swinton, 2.
Statistics were unavailable from the Glacier Bears’ third game, a 69-47 loss to Palmer’s JV. Lynch and Sundberg were named to the all-tournament team.
Fossman said Klinger is improving on the boards, and grabbed 11 rebounds in one game. The Glacier Bears also are working on a zone defense and continuing to push the tempo on offense.
“We’re getting out on the fast break, but not finishing on it,” Fossman said.
The boys’ and girls’ teams are headed to Craig this weekend to resume conference play.