King Cove boys win 1A regional tournament

RALPH LINDQUIST

March 13, 2008 at 1:25PM AKST

For The Dutch Harbor Fisherman

For the first time since 1995, the King Cove T-Jacks are Region IA champions and will take their place at the state basketball championships.

Going to the championship "will be better than a trip to Disneyland," senior T-Jack Charlie Dushkin said.

The T-Jacks boys had been on the road for three days before arriving in Manokotak for their first game against the Togiak Huskies on Friday, March 7.

The sluggish T-Jacks took a while to warm up but led 34-22 at the end of the first half. During the second half, the T-Jacks outscored the Huskies 42-14 to win going away and limited the Huskies to only one shot on most offensive trips down the court.

Senior co-captain Darcy Mack scored 17 points and dished out 10 assists. The other senior captain, Charlie Dushkin, scored a career-high 32 points to go along with 16 rebounds.

Other scorers included: Miles Walker, 9, Radley Christiansen, 2, Jonny Samuelson, 10 and center Jordan Hamilton, 6. Simeon Nawalook led the Huskies with 22 points.

The T-Jacks won the game 76-36.

The next night the T-Jacks played the Koliganek Huskies for the championship. The T-Jacks jumped to an early four-point lead. However, Koliganek hung on and would not let the T-Jacks pull too far ahead. At half time the T-Jacks led 37-28.

Samuelson scored 15 second-half points to help King Cove secure the victory and the regional championship. The final score was 80-63.

Walker’s aggressive play netted him 20 points and 18 rebounds; Mack’s nine points did not measure his leadership on both offense and defense that sealed the victory.

Samuelson scored 21 points. Dushkin scored 16 and grabbed 12 rebounds to go with six assists. Hamilton was a huge presence on defense and scored 11 points. Christiansen and Chad Dushkin saw action in support of the win but did not score.

Joseph Kazimirowicz and Oscar Olsen, who scored 26 and 23 points respectively, led the Koliganek Huskies.

Charlie Dushkin and Mack were T-Jacks named to the All-Region team.

"It’s a great way to end four years of basketball at King Cove – but it’s not over yet," Mack said.

King Cove will attend the ASAA State Championships in Anchorage, March 18-20.

Ralph Lindquist coaches the King Cove T-Jacks boys’ basketball team and is principal of King Cove School.