Anchorage Daily News

Apparently Kalskag only had one miracle comeback in its arsenal this year.

One night after overcoming a 22-point deficit to beat King Cove, the Kalskag boys nearly pulled off the improbable again during Thursday's Class 1A state championship game at Sullivan Arena.

But their foe this time was a veteran group and the defending champs -- the Buckland Sissauni of the Kobuk Valley Conference.

Buckland let a 15-point fourth-quarter lead slip away, but held on to defeat Kalskag 70-63.

Just as in Wednesday's stunning win over King Cove, Kalskag took charge late. Trailing 65-50 with four minutes left, the Grizzlies went on a 13-2 run, cutting Buckland's lead to four with 48 seconds to play.

But Rodney Hadley capped a strong game by scoring off a feed from Brent Ticket. After a Kalskag turnover, Oscar Walker sank 1-of-2 free throws and Buckland finished its final season in 1A as state champions.

"I told them, 'We don't need to score, they need to score,' " Buckland coach Tony Jones Jr. said of his strategy with the lead. "So lets just play tough defense."

Hadley and Lawrence Jones each scored 19 points to lead Buckland. Both players shot better than 50 percent on a mix of drives to the hoop and short jumpers.

Hadley, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, shot 9 of 15 and grabbed 17 rebounds -- 10 on the offensive end.

Jones, a junior point guard, sank 7-of-12 shots, including two 3-pointers. But perhaps more impressive were his eight assists. More than once Jones drove to the hoop, only to pass off to wide-open teammate at the last minute.

As Buckland went into the locker room at halftime leading 38-28, Jones said he was thinking about Kalskag's amazing comeback from the night before. Buckland players and coaches, waiting for their semifinal to start, watched it unfold.

"At halftime we were up by 10. I didn't think that was enough," he said.

Kalskag coach Severin Gardner said the comeback against King Cove was the biggest of his young coaching career.

"After last night, coming back from 22, you always believe you can get 15 points," he said. "That's four shots and four stops. That's not very much. That could happen in 45 seconds. And we've done it before.

"We never quit," he said. "We always play till the last buzzer goes."

Robert Reid had a frustrating first half for Kalskag, missing layups and twice getting called for traveling. But the senior forward led the Grizzlies' late charge, scoring eight of his 13 points in the final four minutes. He also grabbed 13 rebounds.

Forward Wayne Holmberg led Kalskag with a game-high 28 points on 63 percent (12 of 19) shooting. He also grabbed eight rebounds.

"He's just a freshman," Gardner said. "We'll be back."

Kalskag ended its year 22-4. Buckland was its only loss against a 1A team.

Buckland, which moves to 2A next year, finished 22-5.

Coach Jones Jr. said his team almost didn't make it back to state. Buckland needed overtime to defeat Noatak by a point in the Kobuk Valley Conference tournament.

"It could have gone either way," he said. "In our region, everybody loves to play ball. That's their sport. Coming from the (Kobuk) Valley (Conference), you have a pretty good chance at state."

Find Ron Wilmot online at adn.com/contact/rwilmot or call 907-352-6712.

King Cove 74, Napaskiak 29

In the third place game, King Cove's Charley Dushkin recorded a double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds while teammate Miles Walker added 13 points 24 boards.

Elim 57, Fort Yukon 55, OT

Daniel Saccheus scored a team-high 17 points for fourth-place Elim. Shawn Peter's 20 points led Fort Yukon.

ASAA/First National Bank

Championship

Buckland20 18 16 16 -- 70

Kalskag14 14 18 17 -- 63

Buckland -- Br. Ticket 6, Jones 19, Barger 2, Washington 2, Geffe 8, Walker 9, Ballot Jr. 3, R. Hadley 19, D. Hadley 2.

Kalskag -- Dorris 3, Alexie 6, Williams 4, Isaac 7, Reed 13, Holmberg 28, Aloysius 2.

Third Place

Napaskiak?6 13 ?6 ?4 -- 29

King Cove10 21 20 23 -- 74

Napaskiak -- Joa. Maxie 8, D. Joekay 8, Andrew 6, Joh. Maxie 2, Steven 3, Egoak 2.

King Cove -- Christiansen 3, Samuelson 16, C. Mack 2, Chad Dushkin 2, D. Mack 14, Walker 13, Hamilton 6, Char. Dushkin 18.

Fourth Place

Elim7 19 11 13 -- 57

Fort Yukon15 10 16 9 -- 55

Elim -- Jackson 12, G. Takak 1, M. Takak 13, O. Takak 14, D. Saccheus 17.

Fort Yukon -- Fields 13, D. James 3, Peter 20, Carroll 10, W. James 9.

Class 1A Boys All-Tournament Team

Scott Ahgook, Nunamiut; Travis Andrew, Napaskiak; Shawn Peter, Fort Yukon; Matt Takak, Elim; Wayne Holmberg, Kalskag; Lawrence Jones, Buckland; Robert Reed, Kalskag; Oscar Walker, Buckland; Jonny Samuelson, King Cove; Kenneth Vaska, Russian Mission.

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