The Kake Thunderbirds boys finished their 1A state tournament in fourth place with a 62-57 win over the Tri-Valley Warriors, while the Skagway Panthers boys tipped the Nunamiut Amaguqs 71-68 for the consolation final and seventh place Saturday at the ASAA March Madness Alaska 1A State Basketball Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.
Kake would need overtime to claim their final win of the season.
“We knew we were going to be in a battle with Tri-Valley,
” Kake coach Anthony Ross said. “They are well coached. Pretty similar to us in a lot of ways, big bodies. But to have the defeat of a couple days ago and still come back and compete, to have the energy and the country wise email marketing list emotion to finish the season off…our goal at this point was to end the season at 18-1 rather than 17-2. And the boys pulled through in a hard-fought overtime win.”
“It was a great season. A lot of close games up here, just a lot…I think it brought us together more as a team, it kind of showed our character and who we are and that we can play close games and we can win them. I’m really proud of the boys, really proud of our seniors and they gave great leadership throughout the season. It is just a great way to end the season.”
Kake trailed Tri-Valley 45-41 with five minutes left to play in the for this reason the internet archive, fourth quarter and went on a run with senior Talen Davis hitting a free throw, senior Keontay Jackson hitting two free throws, Jackson putting in a rebound and then another for a 48-45 lead.
The Thunderbirds answered a scoring drive by the Warriors’ b2b fax lead Michael Renshaw who then missed a free throw with a rebound by senior Aiden Clark for possession.
Clark would miss a shot on the other end, but follow it for an offensive rebound and score to take a 50-47 lead with 1:20 left to play.
Renshaw would tie the game for Tri-Valley at 50-50 with a shot past the arc with 1:05 left.