For play by play coverage of the entire 2011 Nenana Invitational Tournament, you may go to AlaskanAthlete.com. The 2010 1A State Champion Girls team, the Port Lions Kings tip off the tourney against the 3rd place 2A Northway Warriors.
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Susitna Valley High School was host to a high school basketball tournament for the first time in twenty plus years this weekend. I hope you were there. 108 athletes demonstrated an exceptional balance between sportsmanship and competitive vigor. The final day delivered more Madness than the average March. There were two champions, and many winners.
Crowley Classic All-Tournament Team
left to right:
Haley Tyler, Nenana—Daphne Williams, Nenana—Chasity Herbert, Fort Yukon—Kat Wollett, Susitna Valley—Leyla Sinyawski, Valley Christian—Sierra O’Connor, Susitna Valley—Sierra Pedersen, Susitna Valley—Bailey Stevenson, Susitna Valley
105 points (28,43,34) in 3 games
Not Pictured:
Rachael Smith, Matanuska Christian—Kelsie McGraw, Cornerstone
Paxson Matthews, Susitna Valley—Edwin Waskey, Nenana—Dylan Figley, Susitna Valley—Darell Pine, Valley Christian—Jon Turner, Valley Christian—Timothey Standifer, Nenana
Not pictured:
Jared Wood, Wings Christian—Roland James, Fort Yukon—Alexander Pettey, Wings Christian—Nick Swain, Whittier
Fort Yukon Lady Eagles
Coach Jerry Carroll, 24 Karissa Carroll, 31 Chasity Herbert, 30 Micala Peter, 32 Kandace Carroll, 12 April Peter
Wings Christian Eagles
Alexander Pettey, Jared Wood, Caden MacLellan, Brandon Saunders, Mathew Grant—Coach Bill Wood (not pictured)
James Sickler, Tournament Director
He didn’t do it alone, but James Sickler, Susitna Valley High School Athletic Director, Girls Varsity Basketball Coach, and 2010 Crowley Classic Tournament Director engaged with, encouraged and organized a tremendous amount of energy this weekend. For that, he has been named the 2010 Crowley Classic Tournament Overall M.V.P. The inaugural Crowley Classic was an enormous success. I, for one, can’t wait for the next one.
The second Ship has sailed. The Nenana Lynx and Susitna Valley Rams rebuild their Parks Highway rivalry. One week after meeting in the third place game at the Nenana Invitational Tournament, the Rams and Lynx try again. This time there is a Championship on the line.
First quarter:
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Second quarter:
Third quarter:
Fourth quarter:
Nenana Lynx (second place)
The Nenana Lady Lynx and the Valley Christian Lady Bears battle for third place in the Girls’ Bracket of the Crowley Classic. The Lynx have been led by Haley Tyler, who has scored 49 points in two games, not to mention creating 20 plus turnovers. The Valley Christian team is led by three Sinyawskis. Yana picked up 16 points in the Bear’s first game, as Leyla contributed 14. All 14 of Leyla’s points followed offensive rebounds. Gerriam Kruger added 12 points against Matanuska Christian. The Vallley Christian Bears will try to use a balanced attack to beat a strong Nenana Lynx team. The winner takes third place in the Girls’ Bracket.
Valley Christian Bears
The table is set. Let’s eat! The following is the schedule for the final day at the Crowley Classic. If you are in range, come on out to Susitna Valley High School to partake. If not, follow along on TALKEETNA famous.
Fifth place games
9:00 am Matanuska Christian Eagles vs. Cornerstone Spartans (girls)
10:30 am Fort Yukon Eagles vs. Valley Christian Bears (boys)
Third place games
12:00 pm Nenana Lynx vs. Valley Christian Bears (girls)
1:30 pm Wings Christian Eagles vs. Whittier (boys)
Championship Games
3:00 pm Susitna Valley Rams vs. Fort Yukon Eagles (girls)
4:30 pm Susitna Valley Rams vs. Nenana Lynx (boys
The second game of the second day of the Crowley Classic matches the Nenana Lynx against Wings Christian. This is the first of two on the day for Wings Christian, a five man squad led by point guard Jared Wood and big man Alexander Petty. Timothey Standifer led the Lynx to a 50-37 victory over Fort Yukon last night. Standifer created many turnovers and poured in 20 points, all in the first three quarters. It’s the Lynx and the Eagles in the second of eight games at Susitna Valley High School on day two of the Crowley Classic.
The Crowley Classic kicks off its second day with a match up between the Nenana Lady Lynx and Cornerstone’s Lady Spartans. Nenana is coming off of a close loss to Fort Yukon. Haley Tyler led the Lynx effort with 26 points in Nenana’s first game, a 42-34 loss to a strong Fort Yukon team. This is Cornerstone’s first game off the Crowley Classic and first of two on the day. Cornerstone played the Rams in Susitna Valley on Tuesday. Darla Soulak and Abby Finch led the Spartan’s effort in the loss with nine points apiece.
The first boys game of the Crowley Classic is also a rematch of opening round play at the Nenana Invitational Tournament. The Nenana Lynx defeated the Fort Yukon Eagles on route to a fifth place finish. The Eagles topped Tok on the final day to finish seventh. The Lynx are led by junior guard Timothey Standifer, the Eagles are led by Roland James, both of whom made the All Tournament Team at the N.I.T.
Crowley Classic Invitational Tournament Schedule.
The Crowley Classic tips off with two teams that met in the opening round of the Nenana Invitational Tournament one week ago. The game between the Fort Yukon Eagles and the Nenana Lynx will feature two players that will vie for Tournament M.V.P. Fort Yukon’s Kandace Carroll dazzled the crowd with a 38 point performance in last week’s 47-31 victory over the Lynx. Nenana’s Hayley Tyler responded the following night with 36 points in Nenana’s 43-39 win over Effie Kokrine.
Hayley and Carroll have contrasting styles. Hayley is a slashing point guard who can take it to the hole, but loves the three. Carroll is a persistent rebounder who gobbles up points on the interior, but don’t be fooled, Carroll can shoot The Rock. With 81 points at the Nenana Invitational Tournament, Kandace Carroll carried the Fort Yukon Eagles to a third place finish and earned herself M.V.P. honors.
Fort Yukon, Nenana, Carroll and Hayley tip off Susitna Valley’s inaugural Crowley Classic this afternoon at 3:00.
The Huslia Huslers girls team took second at this past weekend’s Nenana Invitational Tournament. It may have been the last time that TALKEETNA famous will cover Huslia this year. Many small schools have small rosters. On the final day of the N.I.T., there were two games in which, due to foul trouble, a small school’s team was forced to finish a game with only four players on the floor. When this happens, the complection of the game changes quickly.
The Tri-Valley girls team only suited five players in their game against Nenana. The Viking Warriors were controlling the game throughout. They had built a 28-20 lead with just over a minute to play in the third quarter. Then Hannah Keith fouled out. Nenana, playing with a five on four advantage, was able to outscore Tri-Valley 14-2 over the game’s last nine minutes to secure a 34-30 win.
In this past weekend’s example, Tri-Valley had control over their fate. It was foul trouble that was their undoing in the end. Nenana deserves credit for creating the foul trouble. However, last year, at the State Tournament, the Huslia girls team was playing a Port Lions team that only brought five players to the tournament. One of those five was injured in their first game. The following article from the Kodiak Daily Mirror tells the story of how the Huslia coach and the players responded to the situation that the injury created.
Read: Sportsmanship!
Huslia Huslers
