Good to be a Rookie; King Cove girls 13-0
February 15th 9:34 pm | Van Williams
Before the season the King Cove girls basketball team wanted to have a motto that symbolized the squad.
They settled on 'Pride and Passion.'
Fittingly, the two senior leaders of the team walk, talk and breathe that way of play every time they take the court. The rest of the Rookies follow suit and that's a big reason why they are 13-0 on the season.
Meet Shauna Jo Calver, Miss Pride.
And Raylene Kochuten, Miss Passion.
"Shauna plays with pride. When she comes down the court she has her head held high reading the whole court," King Cove coach Ralph Lindquist said. "Raylene plays with passion. It's all or nothing for her."
Kochuten's toughness was also on display at last week's Elks Tournament in Bristol Bay when she started the championship game with three long 3-pointers and ended the night with her right shooting arm in a sling.
Her no-fear style has its side effects.
"The minute she steps on the floor it is perpetual motion," Lindquist said. "She's belly to belly with the defense the whole time for the whole court. When she comes out, she needs a sub not because she's out of shape but because she's spent. She spends everything she has out there."
Kochuten, a 5-foot-3 guard, scored 12 points to help King Cove beat Newhalen 51-39 in the title game on her way to earning a place on the all-tournament team. She also won the tournament's 3-point shooting contest.
She said playing hard comes easy because she has so much to play for - her teammates, her coach, her hometown.
"It's not just about us," Kochuten said. "Our community really helps us out. At our Lumen Christi game (in Anchorage) the entire bleachers were completely filled with King Cove fans. They really support us."
Calver, a 5-foot-5 guard, orchestrated the offense beautifully and earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.
She was recognized because of her all-around ability and unselfishness. Sometimes that means scoring, other nights it means passing the ball.
"It's not all about scoring all the time," Calver said. "If you're team is doing well you should be happy."
But as quick as Calver is on the court, she was even quicker in pointing out the other members of the undefeated Rookies squad.
"We work well as a team," she said. "We all deserve recognition."
Spoken like a true point guard, whose job it is to keep everybody involved.
King Cove showcased its balance during the Elks Tournament when Danielle Carlson delivered a team-high 17 points, including six during a decisive fourth quarter. Honey Lou Wilson grabbed 14 rebounds and Candace Mack chipped in eight points.
"She is playing side by side with these seniors," Lindquist said of Mack. "She's a really ballhandler."
Mack is also nearly averaging a double-double in points and rebounds and can play every minute of a game if needed.
"If I was going through a basketball catalog and I could pick out which players I wanted on my team, these would be the girls that I would pick," Lindquist said. "There are unselfish and don't really care about personal stats.
"I've coached for decades and I've never had so many people come up to me after a game and say, 'Man, you're girls really play like a team.' "
King Cove, Lumen split
The Rookies won 40-19 while the T-jacks lost 77-66 at Lumen Christi in Anchorage.
In the girls game, Candace Mack led all scorers with 14 points on a night when King Cove held the 2A Archangels to just four points in the opening 16 minutes.
The King Cove boys challenged a taller Lumen Christi team down to the wire before falling at the end.
"We showed great heart pulling to within two points in the fourth quarter," coach Dan Sebastian said.
But turnovers and foul trouble doomed them.
Mark Newton led the T-jacks with 22 points while PJ Hamilton had 12, Avery Samuelson 9, Cody Mack and Darrell Gundersen each had 8 and Josiah Mack added 7.
Sebastian said he was pleased with the defensive intensity and expects continued improvement throughout the remained of the season.
King Cove sweeps Wasilla Lake
The Wasilla Lake Rams led after the first quarter, the second quarter and the third quarter.
But the T-jacks led at the end, and that's all that matters.
King Cove overcame a sluggish shooting night to pull out a 55-51 road win thanks to balanced scoring and an effective late-game defense.
Cody Mack led the way with 16 while Josiah Mack and Christian Christiansen each had 13.
Defensively, Gunderson, Newton and Josiah Mack protected the paint while Hamilton came up big on the boards.
In the girls game, the Rookies won 54-19 after scoring 24 of the game's first 25 points. What more is there to say?
Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@alaskanewspapers.com