Valdez Varsity Girls Basketball
“Ice Jam” West Valley Basketball Tournament
January 26-28
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The girls’ varsity basketball team continued their road tripping series with a bus ride to Fairbanks to participate in the West Valley “Ice Jam” Basketball Tournament. It was a round robin tournament with three different 4A schools.
Thursday, January 26: Valdez 19 – Lathrop 46
On Thursday the girls played Lathrop High School. The girls started out strong in the first
quarter with a score of 8 -10 and a halftime score of 12 – 19. The third and fourth quarter
proved to be much tougher for the girls. Lathrop’s pressure on the ball created 13 turnovers
for the Lady Bucs, and the physical contact on the boards, made rebounding difficult. Lathrop
shot the ball very well from the field with a shooting percentage of 46% to the Lady Bucs 18%.
Masen Holmes had 7 points and 13 rebounds
Rylee Wade had 5 points and 3 rebounds
Mya Christoffersen had 3 points
Lily Brown had 2 points and 6 rebounds
Carsyn Hinkle had 2 points and 2 rebounds
Friday, January 27: Valdez 34 – Palmer 31
On Friday, the Lady Bucs took the court against Palmer High School. The girls lost the first
quarter 7 – 9, and then outscored Palmer for the next three quarters. Ball handling and
turnovers made the game very close in the fourth quarter, but key free throw shooting sealed
the win for the girls.
Masen Holmes had 15 points, 2 assists, and 7 rebounds
Carsyn Hinkle had 12 points and 4 rebounds
Lily Brown had 4 points, 2 assist, and 9 rebounds
Destiny Day had 2 points, 6 defensive rebounds, 3 assists and took a charge
Saturday, January 28: Valdez 21 – West Valley 51
Saturday, the girls faced the tournament winning host team, the West Valley Wolfpack. The
Wolfpack put a full court press on the Buccaneers and kept them to single digits each quarter,
creating 28 turnovers. The girls continued to play hard, and everyone got a little time in the
court. Field goal percentage was only 13%, but the bright spot in the game was the team free
throw percentage of 83%.
(Masen Holmes was absent from this game. She was selected to participate in Arctic Winter
Games for Volleyball, in Wood Buffalo, Alberta.)
Destiny Day had 6 points, 2 rebounds, and tied the school record, taking 4 charges!
Carlie VanBuskirk had 4 points and 1 rebound
Rylee Wade had 4 points and 3 rebounds
Carsyn Hinkle had 2 points and 1 rebound
Lola Compehos had 5 defensive rebounds, and an assist and steal
Lily Brown had 2 points
Not having Masen Holmes in the final game made other girls step up and play.
It was a very physical tournament for the girls, but they learned a lot. The team got to watch a
college girls basketball game on Saturday morning when UAF took on Simon Fraiser College at
Patty Gym.
Carsyn Hinkle was named to the 7 player All-Tournament Team.
Izzy Kizer and Rylee Wade made it to the final round in the Saturday morning free throw
contest, and Mya Christoffersen and Rylee Wade shot well in the 3-point contest.
Next week the Team will travel to Anchorage to play Anchorage Christian School on Thursday,
and Grace Christian School on Friday. Then on the way home on Saturday, play Glennallen High
School.