Local talent, unique opportunities lure Outside basketball teams to Alaska Airlines Classic again and again

For more than 30 years, the Alaska Airlines Classic has been the premier annual high school boys basketball tournament in the state. For the out-of-state teams that come to visit and take part, it’s an opportunity to create memories and share an experience of a lifetime.

Not only do they get to test their might on the hardwood against some of the best competition that Alaska has to offer, but for many of the visiting players, it also marks their first time seeing snow, leaving their home state or even getting on an airplane.

As a freshman on the St. Joseph High School boys basketball team from Santa Maria, California, Tounde Yessoufou led the Knights to a come-from-behind 46-36 victory over Bettye Davis East Anchorage in the 2022 tournament championship game. He scored a game-high 21 points and recorded eight rebounds on his way to receiving tournament MVP honors.

“That’s what it’s really about, just helping my team win any way I can,” Yessoufou said.

The 6-foot-5 junior and five-star recruit with offers from several Division I programs is one of only two or three players who were part of the last band of Knights that made the trek to Last Frontier. When they found out they’d be coming back, the entire team was excited and filled with joy.

“We were pretty happy,” Yessoufou said. “I think it was a beautiful experience last time, and we couldn’t wait to come back and have fun.”

The two pieces of knowledge that he imparted to younger teammates making the journey for the first time were that “it’s cold, really cold, and that the fans love us.”

“They are there to watch how we play and we want to show them good basketball,” Yessoufou said.

The first half of St. Joseph’s game against Bartlett on the first day of the tournament Thursday felt more like a dunk competition at an NBA All-Star game. With how frequently and ferociously Yessoufou and a few of his teammates were driving to the post and slamming the ball down with authority, it was hard to keep track of how many they finished with by halftime — but it was certainly near double digits.

“That’s how we play,” Yessoufou said. “We always play like that, just hard, fast, efficient, and consistent with what we do.”

The Golden Bears managed to hold their own against the Knights in the first half of the game and only trailed 47-38 at halftime.

“They were really good, but we just kept our heads up and kept playing really hard,” Yessoufou said.

Once the second half came, St. Joseph took over and pulled away, nearly tripling Bartlett’s offensive output 46-16 on their way to a resounding 93-54 victory to advance to the semifinals. Nevertheless, they still have tremendous respect for the talent and grit of Alaska hoopsters.

“They have some pretty good competition,” Yessoufou said. “Even though they were losing by 30 or 40 points, they still play hard, and I really respect that about them.”

This year’s tournament marked the third time that East Hall High School coach Joe Dix and his team have traveled up here from Gainesville, Georgia, in the last dozen years, and their first trip back since 2015.

Their first trip was in 2012, when they flew up and returned home with some hardware after beating Bartlett in the championship game.

“It’s always been a great and well-run tournament,” Dix said.

He cited high-quality competition and the opportunity for many of his players to “see something they’ve never seen before.”

“I had 13 first-time flyers on an airplane,” Dix said. “Alaska is a beautiful place, very different from Georgia, so it was an opportunity to branch out.”

It’s been half a decade or so since their hometown has seen snow, so for many of his players, this was their first time seeing an abundance of it.

The only times that Dix has been up to Alaska have been with his team to play in this tournament, and he enjoys each trip as much as he did the last.

“I love it up here,” Dix said. “I don’t know if I could live here because I don’t do the cold weather real well, but I love coming up here.”

He thinks very highly of the quality of competition in the 49th state and was especially impressed with reigning 4A division champion Bettye Davis East Anchorage, who defeated his team 69-39 on Thursday night.

“They’re very good offensively, do a good job of finishing, and they whipped us,” Dix said.

East Anchorage head coach Chuck Martin believes that the Thunderbirds’ 30-point trouncing of the Vikings on the first day of the tournament was their “best performance this year on both ends of the floor.”

“We have been defending but have been very inconsistent offensively in terms of what we wanted to do,” he said. “I think we’re finally disciplined enough and tough enough to do it.”

Even though his team won handily, Martin knows that East Hall is a much better team than the final result showed — which made what his players were able to accomplish that much more impressive.

“I watched their last three games on video and I think we neutralized their best players,” he said. “We didn’t let anyone else get involved and that was why we were successful.”

This year’s Alaska Airlines Classic marked the first and last of East Anchorage senior Michael George’s prep career. Even though he was on varsity as a junior, he missed that entire season with an injury, and on Thursday against East Hall, he made the most of his debut by scoring a game-high 20 points.

“It means a lot and I’m thankful for it,” George said. “Not many people get to be where I am right now.”