King Cove is hoops heaven on game night

Published on January 22nd, 2010

By VAN WILLIAMS

The book "Friday Night Lights" was made into a movie and TV series because it famously told the story about how high school football is like a religion in Texas.

In King Cove, boys basketball coach Ralph Lindquist feels like he lives in hoops heaven.

"Friday Night Lights can't hold a candle to King Cove," he said. "Everything that is best about basketball in rural Alaska was evident last week at the gymnasium."

Sure, Lindquist was in good spirits after his T-Jacks, led by all-state guard Jonny Samuelson, disposed of rival Sand Point 65-34. But his love for his hoops happy community goes beyond his own team.

The school recently hosted a tripleheader and what like everybody in town showed up.

The first game of the night pitted the Lady Rookies against the King Cove Lady Legends, a squad comprised of local players, young and old.

"The Rookies have  a unique challenge this year," Lindquist said. "Their traditional rivals, the Sand Point Lady Eagles, were unable to field a team. Because of that, and weather, the Rookies are looking at having no home games this year.

"However, they are getting competitive scrimmages with the Lady Legends. This was their third scrimmage and the first time that the Rookies came out the victor. The girls have been improving steadily and have become stronger as a team in spite of the scheduling setbacks."

The second game gave the community a peak into the future as fourth, fifth and sixth graders took the court to put on a show for the home fans.

"They are always a crowd pleaser," Lindquist said. "King Cove is fortunate to have a dynamic coach for this group. Joe Calver has coached the youngsters for the past seven years, grooming future T-Jacks and Rookies."

Off the court, the community gave the varsity teams a major assist with fundraising, helping the King Cove boys and girls raise the $25,000 needed to fund a six-day road trip later this month to the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage and Bristol Bay.

During it all fans participated in activities such as the "Burger Bash" and "Coach Potato Raffle" all while munching on "hot, juicy, mouth-watering pizza donated by Uptown Pizza," Lindquist.

The pizza was just an appetizer for the main course - the King Cove boys game.

More than 400 fans squeezed in the bleachers to catch the big game. When the hometown T-Jacks took the court, they "erupted in a thunderous cheer of appreciate," the coach said.

They would have plenty to cheer about as the T-Jacks won easily, rallying from a slow start to grab a 38-16 cushion at the break.

Samuelson, the flashy do-everything senior, collected a triple-double with 24 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in an effort every bit as good as the numbers.

Senior co-captain Jordan Hamilton had a monster double-double with 14 points and 14 boards.

Mark Newton added a dozen points and Christian Christiansen chipped in eight. In all, 11 players played.

For Sand Point, Branden Smith and C.J. Roby each pumped in 15 points for the visitors.