Girls Varsity Basketball
Chloe Auble defending the inbounds pass
Valdez Girls Varsity Vs. Hutchison
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – With mixed emotions we played our first region opponent and home games as Hutchison came to town. We were missing Jillian Fleming, a returning starter and one of only two seniors on the team. She was getting surgery for an ACL knee injury and will be out the rest of the season. We will miss her great play and gritty attitude, and wish her a speedy recovery.
Friday and Saturday games were nearly carbon copies. We jumped out early and were able to quickly gain control of both games. Terrific defense by the Buccaneers generated nearly 30
steals for the two contests, often converting into two points in transition. Improved ball movement and teamwork were also exhibited resulting in 26 assists over the two nights. Chloe Auble and Reese King continued to lead the scoring, however, all Buccaneers found the bottom of the net over the two nights.
It was great to finally have a home game with a large, friendly crowd, a raucous student section led by a great set of cheerleaders, and a terrific band and choir. We appreciate your
fantastic support.
It should be noted that Reese King was nominated to the Palmer Elks Tournament All Tournament Team, and also won the girls Free Throw contest at that event. This news was not available prior to the last weekend summary report. Congratulations Reese!
Boys Varsity Basketball
Doug Cummins shoots a freethrow
VHS Varsity Boys Basketball Wrap-Up [January 31 & February 1]
Friday, January 31st: Valdez 85, Hutchison 74
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Buccaneers welcomed Aurora Conference foes Hutchison Hawks to Valdez for the home-opener of the season. The team(s) apparently weren’t the only ones hungry for a game in the friendly confines of VHS; the stands were near capacity with fans celebrating Blackout night. If it was high octane offense the spectators wanted in the late game, they were not disappointed; the game began with a Jimmy Chavez 3-pointer and saw a combined 43 3-point attempts and a total of 159 points.
The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout much of it, with Hutch holding a 19-18 edge
after one quarter and a 42-41 advantage at the half. The Bucs were able to take control in the
third, winning that quarter 25-15. In the fourth quarter, Hutch made multiple comeback attempts that were thwarted by timely Buc baskets as well as the boisterous -and highly organized-student section of the VHS gym. Ultimately, the Bucs prevailed 85-74 to secure their first Aurora Conference win of the season.
The Bucs were led by Jalen Freeman, who scored 29 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting
from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Douglas Cummins recorded a double-
double by scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Bryce Tucker chipped in 11 points
while Storm Rohrer snagged 10 rebounds. Jimmy Chaves scored 10 while also successfully
drawing an offensive foul.
Varsity Boys slide on the floor during warm ups
Saturday, February 1st: Valdez 64, Hutchison 53
Saturday’s matchup saw each team score 21 points less than the previous night. It wasn’t for a
lack of trying, though, as Saturday’s contest saw a combined 48 3-point attempts. The Bucs,
who shot 50% from long range on Friday night, went 7-for-23 from behind the arc on Saturday.
Instead, it was the Bucs interior presence that paced the offense – accounting for 30 points.
Storm Rohrer established the presence early when he beat the Hutch defense back on multiple
occasions in the first half, enabling the Bucs to enter the intermission tied 33-33. The Bucs
once again outscored Hutch in the third quarter and were able to take a 2-point lead into the
fourth. During the fourth quarter, Douglas Cummins placed the team (and, oftentimes, multiple Hutch defenders) on his back and took over the game – aggressively scoring timely baskets and grabbing key rebounds.
Cummins led the Bucs to a 64-53 victory by recording his second consecutive double-double
(17 points, 11 rebounds). Storm Rohrer chipped in 14 while Jimmy Chavez netted 12 (4 3-point
field goals) and successfully drew an offensive foul.
Notes:
The Bucs travel to Fairbanks next weekend (Feb. 7th & 8th) to take on the Monroe Catholic Rams in another Aurora Conference matchup.
JV Girls Basketball
Valdez JV Girls Vs. Hutchison Hawks
Courtesy of Coach Comer – The JV girls had a great weekend on our home court. The girls really worked together as a team, they ran their offense and worked hard on defense keeping Hutchison to 15 points. They secured our second win of the season with a final score of 35-15.
The girls came out on Saturday and continued to work hard and move the ball on offense securing another win with a final score of 29-13. The girls have made great progress already this season, and I am excited for us to continue to work hard and accomplish our goals.
JV Boys Basketball
Valdez JV Boys Vs. Hutchison Hawks
Courtesy of Coach Cronk – This weekend the JV Bucs played two home games against the Hutchison Hawks.
On Friday we got off to a rough start, ending the first quarter 2-15. After talking about taking care of the ball and making a few offensive adjustments we started to chip away at their lead. We out scored them in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to
overcome our initial deficit.
On Saturday afternoon we had a rematch with the Hawks. We played a much better game overall, but it wasn’t quite enough to get the win. In the third quarter we pulled to within 6 points, but that was as close as we as we could get.
Our team played hard in both games and we are making progress and improving every game. Leading the team in scoring this weekend were Jacob Ambacher, Dillon Fowler, Anthony Kelly and Deveraux Calhoun.