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King Cove girls extend unbeaten streak

January 26th 12:03 pm | Van Williams Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Turns out the King Cove girls basketball team had more to contend with other than just the visiting Newhalen Malamutes when the two teams tangled on the court last week.

The flu bug reared its ugly head and most of the team was sick.

Winning cures all, though, and the Rookies know plenty about that.

Undefeated King Cove improved to 8-0 on the season thanks to a two-game sweep of feisty Newhalen behind the play of senior co-captains Shauna Jo Calver and Raylene Kochuten.

On the first night, King Cove won 42-35 highlighted by team defense and the scoring of Danielle Carlson, who led all scorers with 16 points.

The Rookies streaked out to a 27-17 first-half lead and pushed the lead to as many as 15 points in the second half. The big lead allowed head coach Ralph Lindquist to play 12 players.

In addition to Carlson's breakout performance King Cove also had top scorers like Calver (8), Kochuten (7) and Candace Mack (6).

"It was not the individual scoring stats that sealed the victory," Lindquist said. "It was unselfish team play on offense and a tenacious team defense that made the difference."

In the series finale, King Cove used a big second-half comeback to prevail 56-37.

The final score was not indicative of how close the game was, with Newhalen building a 20-19 halftime lead.

Lindquist said his players walked onto the court after halftime looking more determined and their play backed it up. A stingy defense and potent offense fueled a 37-17 run over the final 16 minutes.

"Shauna Jo and Raylene were determined that we come out and play Rookie basketball in the second half," Lindquist said. "They refused to get beat."

Kochuten led a balanced attack with a dozen points. Mack and Calver added 11 and 10, respectively, while Honey Lou Wilson (8) and Raven Samuelson (6) chipped in as well.

Sand Point was scheduled to play at King Cove, too, but weather conditions prohibited air travel.

Unalaska boys lose at buzzer

With 23 seconds remaining, the Unalaska boys basketball team looked safe to beat Cook Inlet Academy of Soldotna.

But when the game ended, the Raiders were on the short end of the stick.

Cook Inlet Academy captured an improbably 47-46 victory at home after scoring at the buzzer, breaking Unalaska's heart.

Matthew Moffis kickstarted the comeback with a 3-pointer that cut Unalaska's lead to 46-45 with 22 seconds left. Then Moffis knocked the ball away from a Raider ballhandler on the ensuing possession and Cody Munn of CIA scooped it up and banked in a short jumper at the buzzer to provide the winning margin.

In the girls game, CIA beat Unalaska 45-26.

 

Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@alaskanewspapers.com

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