Send this article to Promobot

Unalaska boys snap losing skid to Bethel

February 2nd 12:01 pm | Van Williams Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

You can take that monkey off the back of the Unalaska boys basketball program.

The Raiders finally beat region rival Bethel, winning 55-53 Saturday night on the road to snap a seven-year losing skid.

"It's feels good," said Unalaska forward Andrew Seman. "It's a relief to finally beat them."

Seaman was a big reason why. The 6-foot-1 playmaker pumped in a game-high 30 points as the Raiders fought back from a nine-point halftime deficit.

Joseph Henning's free throw with eight seconds remaining provided Unalaska a 55-53 advantage. There was just enough time for Bethel to counter, but the Warriors missed a jumper at the buzzer.

In addition to Seman's do-it-all scoring and Henning's clutch foul shot, Eric Do added nine points for the Raiders.

"It was a good win for us against a very good team in a hostile environment," said coach Jim Wilson.

Unalaska outscored Bethel 33-22 in the second half, including 20-14 in the final eight minutes.

It was a way more favorable outcome than the night before, when Bethel won 72-60.

"Our team defense was much better on Day 2," Wilson said. "We also did a much better job with our patience on offense."

On the first night, the Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter to win the game and spoil a strong performance by the Raiders over the second and third quarters. Unalaska saw a six-point lead evaporate in the later stages when Bethel ended the game on a 22-12 run.

"We struggled to contain their dribble penetration," Wilson said.

Offensively, Seman again exploded for another monster game, this time scoring 32.

"I was just posting up, getting rebounds and all that stuff," he said. "The competition is getting better and we're getting better as a team."

Teammates JJ Fernandez (11) And Sebastian Graves (10) also reached double figures.

For Seman, his 31-point series average was even more impressive when you consider that he played with a bandage on his shooting hand after cutting his right thumb two days earlier in shop class.

He felt no pain; instead hurting Bethel with strong post play.

"He had a great couple games down low," said Bethel coach David Cronk.

If the sign of a quality team is how it does on the road, then the Raiders have reason to pound their chest.

They continued their torrid 10-2 start to the season with a 44-40 win at Lumen Christi in Anchorage.

The game was played just hours after Unalaska beat Bethel. They flew in, got dressed and gutted out a victory.

"It was tiring," Seman said of playing two games in one day. "My legs were gone."

He got plenty of help from his friend.

Fernandez pumped in 22 points and Zac Call, Graves and Henning were defensive wizards to fuel a team effort.

"We overcame foul trouble and poor shooting to be able to come out with a hard-fought victory," Wilson said.

Overall, he's a pretty content coach.

"We had a pretty good weekend," Wilson said. "We continue to improve and grow as a team every weekend. We have many young players who are starting to play well together and are learning their roles to be helpful to the team."

 

Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@alaskanewspapers.com

Copyright 2012 The Dutch Harbor Fisherman is a publication of Alaska Media, LLC. This article is © 2012 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Media, LLC makes no provisions for further distribution.