Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe traded wins in Wednesday’s second round of the Region V basketball tournament.
The Sitka Lady Wolves beat the Lady Braves to advance to Friday’s final, while the top-seeded Sitka boys lost to the fired-up Braves.
Sid Riggs made it look easy.
The sophomore sank two free throws with 5 seconds on the clock, to turn a one-point game into a three-point game, and put things out of reach for the top-seeded Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves.
With a 35 – 32 win, the Sitka Lady Wolves now advance to the final of the 3A regional tournament.
Riggs’ clutch shooting was only one of many highlights from what has been the best game of the tournament so far. Mt. Edgecumbe senior Mariah Martin dropped a fourth-period three-pointer to keep the game close. So did junior Scarlett Beaver. Martin, with 10 points, and Beaver and fellow junior Danielle Fields, each with 6, were the top scorers for the Lady Braves.
Sid Riggs led scoring for the Lady Wolves, and for the game, with 13 points. Junior Megan Reid scored 11 — with 9 of them in the second period alone.
Tight defense held the score down, in what was otherwise an energetic game. The girls were on the floor time and again. There were at least four jump balls in the last two minutes alone.
The Lady Braves are not out of the running. They’ll drop into the losers bracket and play Petersburg Thursday morning at 11:30 AM. The winner of that contest will meet Sitka in the final of this three-team, double elimination tournament.
The Mt. Edgecumbe Cheerleaders leave the floor at halftime. (KCAW Photo/Robert Woolsey)
On the boys side of the 3A tournament, it was a case of who was hot, and who was not.
The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves got the jump on the top-seeded Sitka Wolves from the opening of the game and never looked back. The Braves won 60 – 52.
But it was never really close. Mt. Edgecumbe early in the second period led 20 – 8, and were ahead 33 – 22 at the half, by consistently getting to both ends of the court before the bigger Wolves.
Sitka junior Oscar Barrigan scored the first points of the second half on a steal, giving the Wolves momentum, but it did not last. The Braves ran a delay game, and scored 10 of their 16 fourth-period points as free-throws.
Braves senior John Peterson led all scorers with 22 points. He was 12 for 14 at the free-throw line. Senior Leo Ford was just as dangerous from the field, putting up 21 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
For the Wolves, 6’5” junior Brian Way scored 17, including a three pointer. Except for Way, Sitka struggled to use it’s height advantage and control the offensive boards.
Sitka will enter the losers bracket as the favorite over Petersburg, and could likely meet the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves in a rematch in the 3A championship on Friday.
View tournament brackets, results, and game times for the Region V tournament here.
All games are played at the BJ McGillis Gym at Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
