Hawks hit tourney as underdogs

HOUSTON — Reese Everett knows that his Houston Hawks will have their hands full tonight.

Not only do the fourth-seeded Hawks have a date with the top-seeded West Valley Wolfpack during the first round of the Mid-Alaska Conference Championships tonight at 5:30 p.m. at Houston High School, the Hawks are facing a West Valley team that’s routed them twice before and spent the entire season at or near the top of the girls’ 4A ladder.

West Valley handed Houston a 46-15 loss last week and scored a 57-14 win over the Hawks early in the season. The Wolfpack have only four losses this season, and all have come to a team currently listed in the top-four of the state according to ASAA’s Winning Percentage Index, the formula used to rank 4A teams in the state.

“We’re about as underdog as it gets,” Everett said candidly. “After breaking down film last week, we’ll need to come out and play perfect basketball to be able to compete.”

But that doesn’t mean the Hawks are just going to roll over and let the Wolfpack waltz into the title game of the four-team tourney. Win or loss, the Hawks aim to make things interesting.

“I want to have (West Valley head coach Steve Caciari) to still have to use his studs in the fourth quarter, “Everett said.

Everett said the Hawks certainly aren’t pessimistic about their meeting with the conference power. If anything, Everett, said his team is optimistic about the chance for a young Hawks team to play the Wolfpack in the conference tourney. That’s among the messages he’s sent to his team this week.

“The big thing we have been preaching this week is we have zero to lose,” Everett said. “Don’t play with fear. Play with reckless abandon.”

All but one player on the Houston roster will return next season, and the bulk of Houston’s talent lies among the underclassmen. Everett said tonight will present a great opportunity to play in a tournament game in a playoff atmosphere on their home court.

“This will be far and away the biggest crowd any of these girls have ever played in front of,” Everett said. “It will be a very good experience.”

After going winless last season, the Hawks have pieced together a few victories this season. The Hawks scored a win over Homer in January, beat Nome-Beltz at the Valdez Invitational in February and added a lopsided victory over Eagle River, of the Cook Inlet Conference, last week.

“If you looked at us in December and look at us now, we’re a completely different team,” Everett said. “There’s definite improvement.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.