Varsity Girls Basketball
Valdez Varsity Girls vs. Hutchison/Monroe
Courtesy of VHS CoachesThe Girls Varsity Buccaneer basketball team took on the Hutchison Hawks this past Friday in non-conference play. The Bucs quickly took a 15-4 lead on the Hawks, and cruised on to a 50-19 victory in the contest. Reese King led the scoring with 15 points, followed by Rylie King with 11 and Ambrosia Woodgate with 10 points. Ambrosia also pulled down 8 rebounds, dished 6 assists, and had 4 steals on the night in a terrific effort to lead the Buccaneers. Unfortunately, the Bucs also had 2 significant injuries leading to a shortened weekend for Carsyn Hinkle and Kylie Fletcher-Gilbert.
The short-handed Bucs played the court-running Monroe Rams on Saturday. The two teams met earlier in the season with the Rams taking both contests. On Saturday, the swarming Rams made it difficult for the Buccaneers to get quality shot selections and their transition game proved too much to handle. Falling quickly behind, the Bucs lost the game by a score of 57 – 30.
The Bucs will begin the Aurora conference tournament with a #2 seed, receiving a bye in the first round and then playing the winner of a matchup between Hutchison and Galena. Game time will be 9:15 on Thursday at North Pole High School
Varsity Boys Basketball
VHS Varsity Boys Basketball Wrap-Up [March 5th & March 6th]
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Buccaneers traveled to Fairbanks for the first time this season, taking on the Hutchison Hawks on Friday night and the Monroe Catholic Rams on Saturday night. The weekend featured a pair of lopsided games, with the Bucs going 1-1 on the road trip.
Friday, March 5th: Valdez 72, Hutchison 48
The Bucs previously split a pair of games with the Hawks in Valdez early this season. The first quarter of the tie breaker game didn’t solve much, as the score was knotted at 15-15 entering the second quarter. The second quarter, though, was thoroughly dominated (18-5) by the Buccaneers and led to a 33-20 halftime advantage. The Bucs continued their dominance in the 2nd half, outscoring the Hawks 39-28 en route to a convincing 72-48 victory.
The Buccaneer offense once again featured four players that scored in double figures. Dennis Mott led the way with 18 points, followed by Bryce Tucker (15), Aiden McAtee (11) and Hunter Mathews (10). The Buccaneers dominated both inside and out as they registered 44 points in the paint and shot 50% (6-for-12) from deep.
Dennis Mott recorded another double-double by grabbing 13 rebounds for the third game this season, this time doing his damage in a mere 18 minutes of playing time. Hunter Mathews and Aiden McAtee each successfully drew an offensive foul.
Saturday, March 6th: Valdez 28, Monroe Catholic 83
The Bucs visited Monroe Catholic on their Senior night and had an opportunity to not only spoil a big night for a rival, but also to avenge a pair of home losses earlier in the season. However, as sharp as the Bucs looked Friday night, 24 hours later the story was vastly different.
Monroe controlled the game from the ceremonial tip and outperformed the Bucs in every facet of the game. The energy in Boileau Hall was palpable as 5 Monroe seniors were honored throughout the night, but tame by typical crowds that a Monroe vs. Valdez matchup typically draws.
Those that were able to attend witnessed a hot shooting Monroe team land a few early punches and jump out to a 9-0 lead, which turned into a 27-6 first quarter advantage. The Bucs never recovered or offered much resistance throughout the contest, as their defense was porous at times and the offense that typically excels in aggression and ball sharing turned stagnant and inept. The Bucs failed to score double digits in any quarter en route to their largest lopsided loss of the season.
Dennis Mott led the Bucs in scoring and rebounding (12 points, 6 rebounds) in the losing effort.
Notes:
The Bucs finished Aurora Conference regular season play 5-3, earning the second seed in the Aurora Conference Regional tournament that will take place in North Pole (hosted by Eielson High School) this coming weekend.
JV Girls Basketball
JV Girls vs. West Valley/Monroe
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – Friday afternoon the JV lady bucs stepped off the bus and played West Valley in a scrimmage. It took the first half for the girls to shake off that bus ride, and the second half the girls came out aggressive, worked together as a team and executed our offense well. The lady bucs weren’t able to pull ahead for the win but they played hard until the buzzer. Valdez 35 West
Valley 38
Saturday night the JV Lady Bucs had their last game of the season against the Monroe Rams. They came out aggressive, strong, and they played well the whole way through. It was an exciting 4th quarter to say the least, and we secured the win by 2 points! It was a great way to end the season. I’m extremely proud of these girls, and their hard work over the season. Valdez 40 Monroe 38
JV Boys Basketball
Valdez JV Boys vs. Effie/Monroe
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This weekend the Valdez Junior Varsity Bucs played their final games of the season against Effie and Monroe. In Friday afternoon’s game Valdez got out to a cold start but were able to put together a better second half with great ball movement and scoring. An early defensive lapse had Effie take an early lead that Valdez was not able to overcome. Valdez had 9 different players enter the scoring column lead by Zach Rissman with 7.
Saturday’s rematch against Monroe was similar to Friday’s game. Early turnovers gave Monroe a commanding lead and they never looked back. Valdez never gave up and fought hard until the end to close out the season on a positive note. Valdez had 6 different players score, led by Theron Deisenroth with 12