Kirby Faverty flies over two Panthers during Friday’s home game.
The Haines Glacier Bears’ weekend home basketball series versus the Craig Panthers featured little drama, but it did offer large helpings of music, dancing and fast-paced basketball entertainment. Both the Craig girls and the Haines boys came away with two wins in their first showdown of the season with their division rival.
In the opening game of the series, the Panther boys stayed close for the first half. Senior centers Timothy Benolken of Craig and Kirby Faverty of Haines matched up in their teams’ man-to-man defense. At the half, Haines held a 31-25 lead.
In the third quarter, the Glacier Bears shot a blistering 80 percent from the field and went on to win 71-54. Faverty won the battle of the big men, scoring 36 points to Benolken’s 17. Haines point guard Mark Davis and Craig point guard John McKinley each scored 21 points. Davis, Faverty and Carson Crager combined for 14 three-pointers. The Glacier Bears also hit 14 two-pointers.
Before the start of Saturday night’s boys game, the Haines school took time to acknowledge the senior members of the Haines cheer and stunt squad. When the game began, they were given plenty to cheer about. The Glacier Bears came out in a smothering full-court man to man press forcing steal after steal and rapidly pushed the ball up the court for fast-break buckets, scoring 17 unanswered points to start the game. Midway through the first quarter, Faverty knocked the ball loose at mid-court and broke away for a thunderous dunk, igniting the Haines crowd. They remained fired up as coach Steve Fossman gave all of his 12 available players significant playing time and scoring opportunities.
Faverty scored 28 points, while frequently choosing to pass to an open teammate rather than shoot. Crager had 11 points to go along with nine rebounds. Davis chipped in eight points and Eric Gilham came off the bench to score eight. The Glacier Bears proved consistent, scoring 71 points for the second night in a row, winning 71-42.
Sophomore David Strong earned the start for the talent-laden Glacier Bears and had this to say: “I think that was our best defense of the year and we played smart on offense, moving the ball around.”
The Haines girls got their first chance to face a Craig team that finished fifth in the state last year. The Panthers’ balanced, unselfish scoring attack had each of their seven players scoring at least five points . Craig’s Trinity Sheidecker led her team with 15 points and Craig came away with 62-39 victory. Haines tried to work the ball in to Sadie Anderson in the low post but when they managed to do so, Anderson was immediately surrounded by two or three Craig defenders. Despite the attention, Anderson still managed to put up 13 points.
On Saturday night, the Glacier Bears needed to score some points from the perimeter to take some pressure off of Anderson in the key. Sophomore co-captain Natalie Jobbins delivered. After smoothly draining a buzzer-beating three-pointer the night before, Jobbins continued to find her range on Saturday, hitting a pair of threes and finishing with a game high 14 points. Jazmynn Bird had 13 for Craig who went on to win the game 55-26.
The Glacier Bear girls spoke of their team’s strengths moving forward. Freshman Grace Godinez-Long said, “We did a lot better when we decided to press in the second half of the second game.”
Freshman Malia Jorgenson-Geise talked about her team’s focus on defense. “We are practicing working more smoothly on defense, talking to each other, helping out.”
She also spoke of her team’s offense. “Jobbins had some really good shots. (Natalie) Crager had some good cuts. She reads the court well.”
Sadie Anderson gets the tipoff during this weekend’s game against Craig.
The girls spoke of their squad’s resilience in the face of six early-season losses. Freshman Alison Benda said, “Our team has gotten so much better since the beginning of the season.”
Godinez-Long said, “Our team never gives up. We can be 20 points down with a few seconds left and we’re still pressing, trying to set traps.”
Jorgenson-Geise agreed, “We don’t step off the court until we’ve given it 100 percent, or more.”
At this point in the season, the Glacier Bears have faced three of four divisional rivals on their home court. The Wrangell Wolves will be in town this weekend to round out the home portion of the season. After that, the Glacier Bears hit the road for the second half of the season, and then in March all of the teams will converge in Juneau for the Region 5 tournament in hopes of earning a bid to state.
