Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Buccaneers opened the 2021-2022 season with their own version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles en route to Ketchikan for the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic tournament. Despite ice encrusted roads, freezing rain, canceled flights, and extreme snow events in the Southeast and the Interior, the tournament was able to proceed largely as originally scheduled.
Tuesday, December 28th: Valdez 63, Metlakatla 36
The Bucs tipped off their first game of the season in an early Tuesday afternoon tilt against the Metlakatla Chiefs. While technically a neutral site, Metlakatla’s close proximity to Ketchikan ensured the number of Chief fans vastly outnumbered the Buc fans in the crowd. It was the Buc fans that had more to cheer about, however, as they dominated throughout the contest.
The Bucs outscored the Chiefs 32-18 in the paint and 25-14 off of turnovers. After falling behind early 2-0 the Bucs never trailed again, winning each quarter en route to a 63-36 victory. The Bucs led 15-10 after the first, 30-19 at the half, 48-28 at the end of the third, and finished the contest up 27.
The Bucs had six players score in the contest, led by Payton Gage and Dennis Mott (24 and 20, respectively). Mott notched his double-double, and worked his way onto the VHS record board, by snatching 17 rebounds (including 8 offensive) in the game.
Wednesday, December 29th: Valdez 30, Wilsonville (OR) 64
The Tuesday afternoon win advanced the Bucs to the early evening Wednesday contest vs. the Wilsonville (OR) Wildcats. The game script was nearly opposite that of the previous day, as the Bucs never led in the game and were outscored in every quarter – failing to register more than 9 points in any quarter.
The Bucs were outscored in the paint by a margin of 32-12 and surrendered 18 points off turnovers while only registering 2 of their own.
Seven Buccaneers scored, with Payton Gage (11 points) being the lone Buc to score in double figures.
Thursday, December 30th: Valdez 55, Ketchikan 47
The Wednesday loss dropped the Bucs into the 3rd place/ 5th place game on Thursday evening, where they faced the host Ketchikan Kings and their vocal partisan crowd – which included a large toga-wearing student section the night before.
While the Bucs appeared to play hesitant and timid on Wednesday, they embraced the hostile environment on Thursday and came out the aggressors – outplaying the Kings on their home court, in their tournament, in front of a home crowd waiting to erupt. The Bucs took the crowd out of the game early, jumping out to a lead and not surrendering it throughout the game – earning a 55-47 victory. The win against Ketchikan would be considered a signature regular season, out of conference, win in most any season. This year it may be a harbinger of things to come.
The victory was a true team victory. All seven Buccaneers that entered the game contributed in the scoring column. Those that did not play in the game were energetic and engaged while on the bench, celebrating the achievements on the court by their teammates.
There was much to celebrate throughout, as the defensive performance by the Bucs was tremendous. They successfully drew 4 offensive fouls, yielded 0 transition points, outscored the Kings in the paint 20-8, forced 21 turnovers, recorded 7 deflections, swiped 10 steals, and outrebounded Ketchikan 46-24.
Crowd favorite Dennis Mott paved the way with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Payton Gage netted 13, and Bryce Tucker chipped in 10 points. Allen Watson successfully drew 3 charges.
Notes:
Payton Gage was voted to the All-Tournament team.
The Buccaneers next travel to Fairbanks January 13th – 15th for the Joe T. Classic Basketball Tournament, a round-robin style of tournament where the Bucs will face Tikigaq, Lathrop, and Sand Point.