Girls Varsity Basketball
Valdez Girls Varsity Vs. Galena
Chloe Auble chases down the ball
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This past weekend we hosted the Delta Huskies in a region event. Both nights the Buccaneers won easily, winning on Friday with a score of 47-18 and on Saturday 57-8.
Statistical highlights for the two games combined are as follows: Kylie Gilbert-Fletcher had 8 assists with 0 turnovers, Masen Holmes pulled down 11 rebounds, Rylie King took a charge, and Reese King had 13 steals. Most impressive, however, was the entire team’s defense in allowing only 3 first half points on Saturday, and 8 points total in Saturday’s game. The girls had a relentless defensive intensity carried by all 13 girls.
Region play wraps up this coming weekend against Galena, currently ranked as the #2 3A team in the state.
Varsity Boys Basketball
VHS Varsity Boys Basketball Wrap-Up [February 28th & 29th]
Friday, February 28th: Valdez 53, Delta Junction 65
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Buccaneers hosted Aurora Conference rival Delta Junction for a two game homestand over the weekend. For those that closely follow high school basketball, the games promised to feature a battle between two superb Senior point guards.
On Friday the Bucs got off to an early hot start, jumping out to an early 12-6 midway through the first quarter. However, the Huskies rallied and dominated the remaining four minutes to take a 23-15 lead after one quarter of action. The Buccaneers responded accordingly in the second quarter, closing the gap to 32-28 at intermission.
The game was closely contested from that point on, with the Buccaneers staying within a possession or two but never quite able to take or maintain the lead. The Huskies closed the third quarter with a 52-46 lead. The Bucs were never able to draw any closer, and found themselves down two possessions (55-49) with 4:00 remaining in the final stanza. They would manage only 4 more points the remainder of the game, as Delta Junction was able to convert all 9 of their free throw attempts and salt away a 65-53 victory.
In addition to shooting 100% from the free throw line, Delta shot a scintillating 52% [12-of-23] from behind the arc. Conversely, the Bucs were 9-of-14 (64%) from the free throw line and 6-of- 19 (31%) from deep. The Buccaneers also committed 15 turnovers while only forcing 4.
Jalen Freeman led the Bucs offensively with 16 points and 8 assists. Douglas Cummins and Bryce Tucker each chipped in 12 points while snatching 10 and 6 rebounds, respectively. Jimmy Chavez netted 3 three-pointers and successfully drew an offensive foul.
VHS Fans getting crazy
Saturday, February 29th: Valdez 58, Delta Junction 69
Saturday’s contest featured the same high-scoring first quarter as the night before. This time, though, neither team led by more than five points. Neither team scored the last 1:20 of the frame and the Huskies ended the quarter with a 20-15 lead.
The scoring slowed slightly in the second quarter but the score remained close. The Bucs closed to within one on a Bryce Tucker 3-pointer with :12 seconds left, only to have the Huskies re-establish a 4 point lead when their point guard answered with a three of their own at the buzzer to take a 31-27 lead into the locker rooms.
Despite tying the score on three different occasions, the Bucs were never able to take the lead in the third quarter. While they ultimately won the quarter, they were only able to chip into the Delta Junction lead by one point, entering the final stanza down by 3 [44-41]. In the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers netted 17, but yielded a game high 25 to Delta Junction.
The Buccaneers were led offensively by Jalen Freeman [22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists]. Bryce Tucker and Allen Watson each recorded 12 points. Douglas Cummins grabbed 7 rebounds. James Letendre successfully drew an offensive foul.
Notes:
The two Husky wins essentially guarantee their 2nd place seeding entering the upcoming Aurora Conference Regional Tournament, while the Buccaneers must win a pair of games this upcoming weekend against the Galena Hawks to maintain their current 3rd seed position.
Raphael Alfaro chases down a ball
JV Boys Basketball
Valdez JV Boys vs. Delta
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This weekend the Junior Varsity Bucs played their final regular
season games against Delta. Following the upward trend of the last half of the season, Valdez played their best games of the year. Friday night the Bucs built a steady lead throughout the game and ended up winning by double digits. The energy of the bench and home crowd made for an exciting end as they managed to have everyone on the roster score a basket. Saturday night, in a fun twist, Valdez started their perfect practice attendance squad. With four post players and one forward, the Bucs fell early into a 7-2 deficit. In the second half, Valdez implemented their diamond full court press and had an offensive explosion scoring 24 points (one more than their entire first half’s score) in the third quarter alone. With the game in hand, they managed to get everyone valuable playing time in an overall fun win to end the season. Next Friday, the JV Bucs will have an inter-squad scrimmage.