MCS girls finish sixth in state

ANCHORAGE -- The Matanuska Christian girls spent the entire season unranked in the weekly 2A basketball poll. In fact, the Eagles spent most of the season in obscurity. MCS did not even receive a vote in any of the polls.

Though they were not recognized for their efforts, the Eagles quietly put together a noteworthy season. MCS finished 17-3 in the regular season and placed second in its regional tournament.

To cap off their successful run, the Eagles finished sixth in the 2A girls state basketball tournament at Service High School in Anchorage over the weekend.

"It is quite an accomplishment," MCS head coach Scott Richardson said. "No one expected it.

"As an unranked ream, even making it to state was an accomplishment."

The Eagles nearly earned the right to take home the fourth-place trophy. MCS fell just short of finishing fourth, suffering a 50-46 loss to Kake High School in the final game of their season.

After dropping a 67-51 decision to Point Hope in the first round of the tourney, the Eagles bounced back to score a 59-50 overtime victory over Angoon in the consolation quarterfinals.

MCS outscored Angoon 9-0 in overtime to claim the win.

"It was a total team effort," Richardson said.

Angoon used a late run to get back into the game after MCS garnered the early lead in the contest. MCS held a 29-25 lead at the half in the close battle and stretched their advantage to seven points after three quarters. The Angoon Eagles swooped back into the game with a 12-6 run in the fourth quarter. Angoon got a late bucket to tie the game at 50-50 and send it into overtime.

Aimee Doerr led MCS with 21 points and 13 rebounds in the contest. The junior forward hit nine of her 16 shots from the field. Doerr was named the player of the game for MCS.

"That was her best game of the whole season," Richardson said. "She struggled all season with making her shot, but in regions and the state tournament she has been on fire.

"This is a good time to do it."

Heather Richardson added 15 points and eight boards for MCS.

MCS shot 34 percent in the contest, while Angoon hit just 29 percent of their attempts. An amazing 138 shots were attempted in the contest.

With the win over Angoon, MCS earned a date with Kake in the tourney's fourth-place contest.

MCS led by three at the half, but Kake put together a 25-18 lead in the second half to slip past the Eagles.

Heather Richardson paced the Eagles with 23 points and 12 rebounds in the game. The junior added three steals. Doerr added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Kake was led by a 22-point, 12-rebound effort from Danielle Knudson.

"Kake has been a one-man team and we focused on stopping her," Richardson said of Knudson. "We almost succeeded. She is very hard to stop."

Kake has been a mainstay in the 2A weekly poll.

MCS placed a pair of players on the All-Tournament team. Doerr and Richardson were each honored for their efforts in the tourney.

"It is extraordinary to place two players on the All-Tournament team with a sixth- place finish," Richardson said.

Richardson finished the tourney with 61 points, 32 rebounds and seven steals. At just 5-foot, 5-inches, Richardson led the tournament with 18 offensive rebounds. The junior also was the fourth highest leading scorer in the event.

Doerr finished the tourney with 43 points, 26 rebounds and three steals.

MCS also took home the tournament's team sportsmanship award.