Thursday’s 77th annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament action saw five teams earn semifinal wins and a day of rest before playing in their respective bracket championships on Saturday.

The Klukwan masters were the first team of the day to punch their ticket to the finals on Saturday with an 87-60 win over Hoonah. Klukwan was led by 15 points from Stuart Dewitt, 13 from Michael Ganey and 12 from Andrew Friske. Hoonah’s Arthur Campbell and Andy Gray scored 11 apiece and Jimmy Refuerzo 10. Klukwan plays at 11 a.m. Saturday for the title. Hoonah plays Sitka at 11 a.m. Friday in an elimination game with the winner advancing to face Klukwan in Saturday’s 11 a.m. Masters championship.

Hoonah punched their ticket into the C bracket finals with a 75-65 win over Hydaburg behind 31 points from Joseph Coronell JR and 22 from Tavis Dybdahl. Hoonah advances to the 5 p.m. title game on Saturday. Hydaburg was led by 25 points from Darren Edenshaw. Hydaburg plays an elimination game at 5 p.m. Friday against Kake with the winner getting a shot at Hoonah for the C bracket title. Kake eliminated Metlakatla from the C bracket 70-57 behind 22 points from Rudy Bean and 16 from Dean Cavanaugh. Metlakatla was led by 34 points from Mace Hayward and 11 from Clifton Guthrie.

Juneau’s AML defeated Metlakatla 92-84 in the A bracket semifinal behind 20 points from Kolby Hoover, 18 from Kaleb Tompkins and 15 from Chase Saviers. Metlakatla was led by 26 points from Clay Olstad and 24 from Nate Yockey. AML held an 83-73 lead with two minutes to play and Metlakatla’s Olstad hit three free throws to pull to 83-78. Forced to foul to gain possession, Metlakatla put AML’s Kaleb Tompkins on the line and he hit six in a row and Chase Saviers notched 3-4.  Metlakatla’s Yockey and Olstad closed out the scoring in the loss. AML advances to the 3 p.m. championship game on Saturday and will play the winner of today’s elimination game between Metlakatla and FILCOM. Metlakatla previously defeated FILCOM 86-74 to open their tournament play on Tuesday.

Haines improved to a 3-0 record with an 81-52 win over Yakutat (2-1) in the B bracket semifinal behind 24 points from Kaleb Tompkins and 20 from Kyle Fossman. Yakutat was led by 18 points from Arthur Adams and 12 from Christian Adams. Haines advances to the 7 p.m. championship game on Saturday. Yakutat plays an elimination game against Angoon at 7 p.m. Friday with the winner earning a shot at Haines for the B bracket title. Angoon defeated Kake 80-68 in an elimination game behind 34 points from Clayton Edwin and 24 points from Tajaun Jamestown. Kake was led by 21 points from Simon Friday, 16 from Dominic Ross and 13 from Tristan Ross.

In the women’s bracket semifinal Craig defeated Yakutat 56-50 behind 18 points from Nani Weimer and 15 from Michaela Demmert to earn the 1 p.m. championship game on Saturday. Yakutat was led by 20 points from Kim Armendariz. Yakutat trailed 15-1 after the first quarter, then stepped up defensively to trail 19-16 at the half. Craig led 38-26 starting the fourth quarter and held off their opponents in the final 10 minutes. Yakutat plays an elimination game at 1 p.m. Friday against Metlakatla, a 54-37 elimination game winner over Angoon on Thursday. Metlakatla was led by 17 points from Ryley Booth and 10 apiece from Alexis Russell and Ashley Huffine. Angoon was led by 8 points from Frances Mills and 6 apiece from Tasha Heumann and Carmaleeda Estrada.

FRIDAY GAMES

11 a.m. Masters elimination – Hoonah (1-1) vs. Sitka (1-1)

1 p.m. Women’s elimination – Yakutat (2-1) vs. Metlakatla (2-1)

3 p.m. A bracket elimination – FILCOM (1-1) vs. Metlakatla (1-1)

5 p.m. C bracket elimination – Hydaburg (2-1) vs. Kake (2-1)

7 p.m. B bracket elimination – Yakutat (2-1) vs. Angoon (3-1)

SATURDAY GAMES

11 a.m. Masters Championship – Klukwan (2-0) vs. winner of Friday’s 11 a.m. Hoonah (1-1) vs. Sitka (1-1) elimination game.

1 p.m. Women’s Championship – Craig (2-0) vs. winner of Friday’s 1 p.m. Yakutat vs. Metlakatla elimination game.

3 p.m. A Championship – AML (2-0) vs. winner of Friday’s 3 p.m. Metlakatla (1-1) vs. FILCOM (0-1) elimination game.

5 p.m. C Championship – Hoonah (3-0) vs. winner of Friday’s 5 p.m. Hydaburg (2-1) vs. Kake (2-1) elimination game.

7 p.m. B Championship – Haines (3-0) vs. winner of Friday’s 7 p.m. Yakutat vs. Angoon elimination game.

This story was originally published by the Juneau Independent.