FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Schools Ready For Hoops Season

By Abigail Bliss
Sentinel Staff Writer
    With basketball season right around the corner, teams at Mt. Edgecumbe High School and Sitka High School are getting in shape for their first games. Coaches of the boys and girls teams at both schools recently previewed their teams’ strengths, stars, and stiffest competition this season.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School Girls Basketball Coach Kathy Forrester gives pointers to freshman Sherilyn Johnson-Edwards during a practice Tuesday at MEHS. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

   
Sitka High School Girls
    Head Coach Sondra Lundvick, who has been heading up the girls’ squad at SHS for four years, is already impressed with the level of comraderie among this year’s group of girls. Her players are gelling as a team, she reported, and now need to turn their attention to getting into game shape for the start of the season.
    “We’ve got a good nucleus of returning players,” she said. “We need to get in shape. It’s really early. It’s just the initial work on getting kids where they need to be.”
    The Wolves anticipate facing stiff competition throughout the season, starting with Houston, Ketchikan and Bethel at the upcoming Holland America Holiday Tournament, Dec. 14 through Dec. 16.
    “We have a really strong schedule,” Lundvick said. “We’re going to try to play the best people that we can and hopefully get things together for the end.”
    Lundvick also has Barrow and Kotzebue on her radar, dubbing them “some of the top teams in the state.” The SHS girls will square off against both teams in January.
    She predicted that two seniors, Tatum Bayne and Marlis Boord, would be “big keys to the season.”

Sitka High School Boys
    Head Coach Scott Jones began his coaching career while he was a student at Sitka High. For his senior project, he said, he helped coach eighth-grade basketball at Blatchley Middle School. He played basketball at the collegiate level before returning to Sitka, where he coached the JV team for three years and the junior high team for nine years before stepping into the varsity coach role.
    He said his team is a close-knit group whose strength stems from a shared history and combined effort.
    “As a group, they pretty much stick together,” he said. “They’ve known each other for a while. We started early in the summer with open gyms, and they all have been committed to those.”
    His players rely on and support each other, he explained, meaning there are no stand-out stars, just equal responsibility and opportunity for everyone on the court.
    “It’s a team effort,” he said. “We’re not relying on one guy to do everything.”
    Jones predicted that Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Barrow, and Anchorage Christian will offer tough competition. The Wolves will kick off the season with games against Houston, Nikiski and Bethel at the Holland America Holiday Tournament on Dec. 14 through Dec. 16.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School Girls
    As the MEHS girls head into the 2017 season, they’re doing so under the guidance of a new coach, Kathy Forrester. Originally from Ketchikan, Forrester grew up playing basketball in Region V and remembers traveling to Sitka as one of the highlights of each season.
    “I always loved Sitka,” she said. “I thought it was the most beautiful city in Southeast, and very family friendly.”
    She coached middle school and youth basketball in Ketchikan before moving to Sitka in 2004. She has previously coached the Sitka High School girls varsity team and continues to offer her expertise to the Blatchley Middle School basketball program in the fall.
    As her first year coaching the MEHS girls varsity team gets under way, Forrester expressed gratitude for her players’ support of both their teammates and new coach.
    “I think I have a great group of girls this year,” she said. “They’re positive with each other and very supportive of me.”
    So, too, she thanked the MEHS staff for their assistance as she settles into her new role, singling out the office staff, Andrew Friske and Lieudell Goldsberry for their support during the transition.
    Forrester said that the height of some of her players, as well as a sizable contingent of returners, might give her team the edge over some of its opponents.
    “We have a little bit of height this year and seven returners,” she said. “I also have a JV player that I brought up that I think will be spectacular.”
    Forrester expressed concern, however, that her players’ packed schedules might make it difficult to maintain a full roster throughout the season; with some girls still wrapping up the wrestling season and others setting their sights on additional courses this spring, there is no shortage of activities pulling her players in different directions.
    With the reigning champions from Anchorage Christian bringing an unchanged roster to the 2017-2018 season, she anticipates a tough match against the all-star squad.
    Forrester also said that MEHS’ three regular season games against Sitka High School on Jan. 30, Feb. 6, and Feb. 27 loom large on the horizon.
    “I say that because my daughter plays over there,” she explained. “We kind of just agreed that I’ll do my job the best I can, and she’ll do her job the best she can, and may the best team win.”
    “There’s no easy road to winning Southeast around here,” she added.
    Forrester emphasized that each girl offers valuable skills to the team, and identified Daisy Hunt, Paige Goodwin, Sanora Bell, and Tyra Brown, in particular, as players who would assume key roles this season.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School Boys
    Coach Archie Young is settling into his 19th year coaching basketball at MEHS, a community that compelled him to stay in Sitka a decade longer than he originally intended.
    “I came here, in my mind, for four to five years,” he said. “But I fell in love with the school, and what it represents, and here I am.”
    His appreciation for the Braves community informs his approach to the season, which he said hinges on hard work in both the classroom and the gym.
    “If we do all the things off the court and in the classroom, I think we could become a pretty good team by the end of the season,” he said.
    This year, the Braves’ strength lies in the variety of complementary talents represented on the team roster. Young believes that his players offer a range of experience and skill that will serve them well throughout the season.
    “I believe we will have a balance of kids who can do multiple things on the floor – guys who can score in different ways and guys who can defend different positions,” he said.
    The squad is currently composed of six seniors, three juniors and one sophomore.
    Young encourages his players to approach each game with the same attitude and work ethic, regardless of their perceptions of the opponent’s aptitude.
    “We try to go into every game with the same mentality of compete’ and play ‘til the game ends,” he said. “We don’t look at opposing teams as tougher or easier. Each game on our schedule will present its own unique challenges.”
    He noted that this is the first year in more than a decade that the Braves have a full schedule for the season.
    “I’m excited to see that we will play so many games this year,” he said.
    The Braves will begin their full season by taking on Nikiski High School on Dec. 13.

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!