By Jeff Brady

For the News

The Skagway High School boys’ basketball team finished 3-1 in their return to the ASAA 1A State Tourney for the first time in more than 20 years.

Royce Borst goes for a dunk in a game in Skagway early in the season Photo by Jeff Brady

Their only loss in the March 12-15 tourney came in the opening round, knocking them out of championship division play, but Skagway did win out to take the consolation round and finish seventh place overall.

“The first game of the tournament we played a good game but ultimately the other team made some big shots and we didn’t,” said coach Ross Barrett. “The following three games I felt we played some of our best basketball of the season and beat some really good teams.”

Junior forward Royce Borst had an outstanding week and was named to the state all-tournament team, and several other players shined. All but one of them will be back next year, so this could have been a warm-up for a better showing in Anchorage next season.

The Panthers got awful close to moving on after day one. They lost the opener 78-71 in overtime to the Selawik (Davis Ramoth HS) Wolves, who took control of the extra period after tying the game at the end of regulation.

It was a game of runs. The Wolves took an early 17-12 lead capitalizing on Panther turnovers, but Skagway caught fire in the second quarter to go up 34-29 at halftime. Senior Landon Rodig (17 points) was having his best game of the season, and Royce Borst (30) and Cam Lawson (18) also got hot. The Panthers kept the lead most of the second half, once going up by nine, but they never could shake the Wolves, who kept knocking down three-balls to keep it close.

Skagway had several chances to seal the win at the free throw line in the final 1.5 minutes but went only 3-12. Selawik’s Ralph Stalker then tied it with a bomb to make it 61-61 with 2.1 seconds left. Skagway called time out and set up a play that almost won it. A long full-court pass connected to Borst, who got to the baseline, but his runner rimmed out at the buzzer.

In the overtime, Selawik kept up their momentum and won by seven. 

After that defeat, Skagway went on a remarkable three-day run, first knocking off Scammon Bay, 71-47. Borst paced Skagway with 25 points, while Lawson added 15 and Rodg 12. Next, in a tighter game versus Buckland, Skagway prevailed 53-40. Skagway’s defense was elite, producing many fast breaks points as they broke open the game in the final quarter. Borst and Lawson led the way again, with 28 and 14 points respectively.

The Panthers got to play on Saturday in the big Alaska Airlines Center across from the UAA campus. Their opponent was another team from northern Alaska, Nunamuit School from Anaktuvuk Pass.

As expected, the two teams were evenly matched, and scored in bunches. The Panthers opened up a 17-12 first quarter lead, only to see Nunamuit outscore them 26-15 in the second period for a 38-32 halftime lead. Then Skagway came out of the locker room hot, winning the third period 25-12 to take back the lead and eventually hold off the Amaguqs (Wolves in Inuit) for a 71-68 win.

Borst went off in his final game of the season, posting 34 points. Lawson added 13, and Kaleb Cochran, who had been a steady passer for the Panthers all week, finally got his shots to fall. He scored 10 points to go with 6 assists.

Camden Lawson received the “Player of the Game” award after the Buckland game. Photo by Alanna Lawson

Rodig is the only player to graduate from this team, and Skagway will likely be the favorite to win the region next year. SE region champ Kake, who took fourth place at State, will be graduating several seniors.

“Overall, I think it was a great experience for all of us, and the team had a great time up there,” Barrett said. “It was nice to end on a little winning streak and we’re looking forward to using that experience to push us a little further next season.”