The Crimson Bears played a scrimmage they call "Defensive Game.'' Points are not awarded for baskets in the drill, but are awarded for turnovers seized, defensive touches of the ball and rebounds grabbed.
Defense is the cornerstone of Juneau's game. When the Crimson Bears don't have the ball, they make it their mission to get it, and they do so with unrelenting pressure forged from their constant emphasis on defense and their furious fitness.
"It's pretty much all about defense,'' said guard Karli Brakes. "Offense comes after we play defense. We spend more than half the practice on defense.''
All that labor and preparation produced a bounty Wednesday night, when Juneau's defense suffocated Wasilla and delivered a 41-35 victory that earned the Crimson Bears the Class 4A state championship.
Juneau harassed, hurried, trapped and rattled the Warriors into 22 turnovers.
Time and again, the Crimson Bears surrounded Wasilla's ball handler and forced turnovers. Brakes led the way with four steals, Brittany Fenumiai and Sarah Tarver copped three each, and Mahlet Tingley and Annette Highley added two each.
"They have a lot of speed, they can apply pressure and we didn't do a good job of taking care of the basketball,'' said Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax.
The Crimson Bears can bring such dogged pressure to bear because coach Lesslie Knight can use so many players -- nine different girls played at least six minutes Wednesday.
"We have seven or eight kids who could be starters, so we rotate people,'' Knight said.
And when the Crimson Bears swarm a ball handler, it's as if they are preying on weakness.
"We just get all relentless,'' said Taylor Larson, who scored 10 points for Juneau. "It looks like the (ball handler) is honestly scared for their life.''
Juneau racked 18 points off turnovers, and another 18 from the free-throw line, which is another source of its bounty.
The Crimson Bears shot 72 percent from the line, and looked comfortable doing so. That's another benefit of repetition. In the second half of the season, Knight said, the Crimson Bears not only shot free throws while tired in practice -- that's in order to simulate the fatigue of game situations -- but also shot free throws in two more sessions most days.
And Juneau uses a stick-and-carrot approach in one practice drill. Knight picks a random player to make two straight free throws. If the player misses, all the Crimson Bears run down and back the length of the court eight times.
"So making free throws is very important,'' Brakes said, cocking an eyebrow.
Miss free throws in practice, and exhaustion awaits.
"You have no idea,'' Brakes said.
Though Wasilla jumped to a 4-0 lead inside the opening two minutes, Juneau scored the remaining 10 points of the quarter and never trailed after that. The Crimson Bears also forced the Warriors into seven consecutive turnovers in the last three-plus minutes of the quarter.
Juneau led by seven points at intermission, and as many as 12 points in the third quarter. Come the fourth quarter, the Crimson Bears bled the clock, and also made 8 of 13 free throws.
Tingley led Juneau with 11 points, and she drained all six of her free throws. Highley hit 8 of 11 free throws to help account for her 10 points. And although Fenumiai, who scored 26 points in the first two games of the tournament, did not score, she grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Kelsey Cottle led Wasilla with 12 points and Alexis Imoe delivered nine.
And even though the final margin was just six points, Juneau's victory seemed certain every second of the second half.
"I think we were always in control,'' Larson said.
First National Bank Alaska/Alaska School Activities Assocation
Class 4A Girls State Basketball Championship
At Sullivan Arena
Wasilla 4 11 8 12 -- 35
Juneau 10 12 9 10 -- 41
Wasilla -- Apangalook 2, Imoe 9, Dinkel 2, Nuss 4, Naczi 4, Colgrove 2, Cottle 12.
Juneau -- Tingley 11, Brakes 4, Tarver 4, Highley 10, Larson 10, Swofford 2.
Dimond 63, West 46
Dimond junior Keiahnna Engel erupted for a jaw-dropping stat line in 27 minutes of play to lead the Lynx to a 63-46 win over fellow Cook Inlet Conference member West that secured third place.
Engel racked a game-high 26 points, a game high-tying 13 rebounds that included a game-high seven offensive boards, a game-high seven steals, a game-high three blocks and a game high-tying three assists. Oh, and she did not commit a turnover.
Sierra Afoa chipped in 12 points and Symphony Bagsby added 10 for Dimond.
Tessla Rennie (13 points, 13 boards) and Adrina LaVern-Tosi (11 and 11) each provided the Eagles with a double-double.
Dimond 10 12 25 16 -- 63
West 12 15 10 9 -- 46
Dimond -- Prestegard 7, Rogers 8, Engel 26, Bagsby 10, Afoa 12.
West -- Nidoy 4, Harris-Grant 1, Tufi 7, Smith 9, Adrina LaVern-Tosi 11, Wilhelmi 1, Rennie 13.
West Valley 55, Colony 44
Jasmine Yarde and Megan Hinzman each furnished 13 points, and Hannah Mattson delivered 12 to give West Valley fourth place with a 55-44 win over Colony.
Hinzman also added a game-high nine rebounds and Mattson dished a game-high seven assists.
Mary Klapperich led Colony with 13 points and Kate Klapperich added 11 points and six assists.
Colony 7 6 13 18 -- 44
West Valley 14 8 14 19 -- 55
Colony -- M. Klapperich 13, Hutchins 9, K. Klapperich 11, Brumbaugh 1, Bowker 8, Forstner 2.
West Valley -- Mackey 9, Mattson 12, Brice 2, Phillips 6, Yarde 13, Hinzman 13.
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