Trio of juniors helps King Cove girls basketball team pile up the points

There’s something magical to be said about basketball these days. At every level, teams are scoring more points, shooting more 3-pointers and having a blast doing it. Run-and-gun basketball is in, and those who can’t keep up get left in the dust.

Enter the King Cove girls basketball team.

An Aleutian chain village of about 1,000 people located nearly 1,000 miles from Anchorage, King Cove is the home of the undefeated Rookies, who are boasting absurd scoring numbers. The Rookies have eclipsed the 90-point mark five times this season, with one of their recent victories coming in the form of a 100-15 blowout win against the Ninilchik Wolverines.

Leading the juggernaut is the junior trio of Elaina Mack, Jalaya Duarte and Sadie Newton.

Mack is averaging a staggering 36.6 points per game, Duarte is locking down the paint with 15.4 rebounds per game and Newton is a sharpshooter capable of catching fire at a moment’s notice.

The three have played together since the fourth grade, and their arrival on the high school basketball scene changed the landscape of the Aleutian Chain Conference. In the 2015-16 season, before the three arrived, the Rookies finished 6-6. Once Mack, Duarte and Newton burst on to the scene as freshmen, the Rookies improved to 14-3. In their sophomore season the Rookies were 22-1.

This year, King Cove is 21-0.

“I’ve never seen so much talent in (a place with) such a small population,” said head coach Gary Lamar, who is also King Cove’s principal.

The Rookies, who have played 19 of their games on the road, treat every outing like a business trip. Lamar ensures that each player makes 100 shots at each practice. Off the court, the Rookies follow a strict regiment ensuring that they study a certain number of hours each day to keep up with school amidst a packed travel schedule.

“We don’t go to a mall or anything (when we travel)." Lamar said. “I’ll let them shop on a Sunday when they finish their work. We have regular school when we’re gone, and we have two teachers with us.”

The King Cove girls have not won a state title since 2004, when Connie Newton, Sadie Newton’s aunt, was the coach. The Rookies have high hopes for this season.

“Other teams are looking at us, so we have to bring it each game," Mack said. "I think we have a really good chance (in the postseason).”

For Mack and Duarte, the standard of excellence they uphold on the court has seeped into other facets of their life. Mack has hopes of pursuing pre-law in college, while Duarte has her mind set on pre-med.

“They’re at the top of their class," Lamar said. "It’s one of the reasons it’s so easy to coach them — because they learn so fast.”

The Rookies’ most recent road trip has taken them all over Southcentral Alaska since the team left King Cove late last month. This week they’re in Talkeetna, where they will finish their 18-day, 15-game road trip and then return home for the final stretch of the regular season.