Moose struggle in tourney conclusion

JUNEAU — Juneau-Douglas tallied its lowest offensive output of the season, but the team's defense made up the difference.

The Crimson Bears cruised to a 50-32 win over the Palmer Moose Wednesday in the third round of the Capital City Classic, locking up the tourney title on their home floor.

Junior forward Taylor Larson, who led the Bears in scoring with 15 points, said the team knew they would face its biggest test of the tournament against Palmer.

"We knew that Palmer was the best team, so I think that's why it was scheduled for us to play them the last night, and I didn't automatically think that we were going to win but we knew it was going to be a competitive game," she said. "We knew it wasn't going to be a big blowout, and it feels good to get the win."

The Bears looked inside early, with Larson muscling up two buckets, followed by an old-fashioned 3-point play for senior forward Annette Highley.

Junior guard Karli Brakes got a steal and hit Mahlet Tingely under the basket for a tough lay-up, and the Bears lead 9-0 barely two minutes in, with assists on their first five baskets.

With JDHS up 12-0, the Moose got their first points on back-to-back buckets inside at about the 3-minute mark.

The teams traded buckets, with Brakes getting another steal and making a lay-up while taking a hard foul, and JDHS led 16-7 after the first quarter.

Junior forward Sarah Tarver started the second quarter off with an and-1 and then another free throw for a 20-7 JDHS lead. Palmer got its first bucket at the midway point when Anna Koehn rattled home a shot jumper, cutting the deficit to 11, 20-9.

Three straight scores by Larson helped push the Bears' lead to 26-14 at the half.

The defensive intensity never wavered in the first half, and the only thing that slowed the Bears from blowing the game open was several missed chip shots under the goal.

"We're still ironing out some kinks," coach Lesslie Knight said. "We got an opportunity to spread the floor a little bit, which was good for us, and we got a couple of easy lay-ups. I was pretty happy with our younger players and our second string, which hasn't had much experience spreading the court. Every game creates new situations, and we're gaining more and more experience."

After trading baskets early in the third, JDHS went on an 8-0 run after Larson went to work inside for a deuce, followed by a tough stick-back by Highley and four free throws from Tingley and Highley for a 36-17 lead.

Kendal Venkzke scored inside off an inbound play to stop the run, and the Moose cut the deficit to 15, 38-23, after a put-back by Venzke. The Bears led 40-23 heading into the final period after a Weyhrauch bucket inside.

The lead ballooned back to 20 in the fourth after Tarver found herself falling out of bounds under the basket. Tarver was able to unload a pass to Weyrauch under the goal for an easy score and a 46-26 lead.

Two straight buckets inside from Larson made it 50-28, Bears, and Palmer got no closer than 18 the rest of the way.

Highley also scored in double figures for JDHS, putting up 11 points, while Tarver had 8 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Brakes had five steals.

Palmer coach Paul Reid said he was pleased with the way his team handled the vaunted JDHS press overall.

"They did get out on that 9-0 run (to start the game), but I thought part of that was just us not capitalizing on offense," he said. "I thought we had really good scoring opportunities early in the game, which would have kept it close. And then little 4-0 runs, 6-0 spurt here and there is what got that lead up."

Cox had 10 points for the Moose, Venzke 9 and Koehn 8.

Up next for the 5-0 Bears is archrival Ketchikan, which travels to Juneau on Jan. 15 for two days. Larson said JDHS will be ready.

"We're going to be working hard in practice," she said. "They're one of our main teams to beat because it's a conference game."

Palmer tops East

JUNEAU — Senior guard Shauna Thein scored 16 points and Jaimi Cox contributed 14 more to give a 49-35 win over the East Anchorage Thunderbirds Tuesday, during the second round of the Capital City Classic.

Cox scored all of her points in the first half and added 11 rebounds and four assists. Erin LaMere scored eight points and had five rebounds in the win.

All-tournament team:

Karli Brakes, JDHS; Sarah Tarver, JDHS; Annette Highley, JDHS; Hannah Swofford, JDHS; Jaimi Cox, Palmer; Shawna Thein, Palmer; Bobbi Britt, Service; Ashleigh Owens, East Anchorage. MVP: Taylor Larson, JDHS