VHS Boys at Grace Christian, Courtesy of Angela Alfaro
VHS Varsity Boys Basketball Wrap-Up [February 2nd & 3rd]
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Buccaneers traveled to Anchorage to take on the Anchorage Christian School (ACS) Lions and Grace Christian Grizzlies on Thursday and Friday evening.
The trip marked the 4th consecutive weekend the Buccaneers traveled. First they took to the road for a 470-mile trip to Nikiski, followed by a drive to Anchorage and a flight to Galena the following weekend. The 413-air mile difference between Galena and Valdez was evident when the Bucs experienced an 88-degree temperature change when traveling home (it was -53 degrees in Galena when they left and 35 degrees in Valdez when the bus pulled into town).
The following week was a short week and a 360-mile bus trip to Fairbanks where the Bucs competed in a 3-game tournament at West Valley, sleeping in a room that required a beanie and jacket at all times. By comparison, the relatively routine and short (305 mile bus ride) trip to Anchorage followed by two nights in a hotel was a welcome reprieve.
When forced to be together that much, with lots of idle time, and in close quarters, teams tend to learn a lot about themselves – both on and off the court. And, while the Bucs exhibited resolve and demonstrated that adverse circumstances will not impact their effort levels on the court, players and coaches alike are appreciative of the upcoming hiatus in travel and look forward to their own personal space and spending some time at home.
Thursday, February 2nd: Valdez 41, Anchorage Christian School (ACS) 51
The Bucs, perennial participants in the ACS tournaments of yesteryears, took to the court for the first time since the facelift that the ACS gym received. While the rubberized floor remained, the stage area that occupied one entire baseline was gone, replaced by a concession area and weightroom befitting space at Lumen Field.
Those in attendance for a Thursday night game saw a short-handed spirited Bucs team take on the home team Lions. Unfortunately for Buc fans in attendance, they did not see many Buccaneer shots find their mark.
The Bucs jumped out to a 5-4 early lead, but would not find themselves on the positive side of the scoreboard after that. ACS took a 15-7 lead into the first quarter due to sloppy ball security by the Bucs as well as their inability to convert on the offensive end. Quarters three and four were played relatively equally, leading to the Bucs facing a 6 point (41-35) deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Whether it was due to recent travel, being short-handed, or a litany of other reasons the Buccaneers were unable to mount a viable comeback attempt in the fourth quarter. In the final frame alone they committed 5 turnovers and shot 0-for-6 from behind the arc.
It was a theme that dominated the night, as the Bucs overall committed 20 turnovers and had a season-worst shooting performance – including 2 of 17 (12%) from deep.
That said, it was a game that felt worse in real time than the stats show. It was a winnable game, but poor shooting was the downfall. The effort of the Bucs was impressive throughout, however.
Payton Gage led the Bucs with 14 points, followed by Bryce Tucker with 12. Nick Alfaro successfully drew an offensive foul.
Friday, February 3rd: Valdez 47, Grace Christian 72
As was the case the night before, the Bucs entered hostile territory to a program notorious for winning on their home court. Grace Christian has dominated the 2023 season thus far, beating Alaska’s best 4A team as well as out-of-state competition, and everybody else they’ve matched up against. The shorthanded, road weary Bucs had every opportunity to put forth a lackadaisical effort and limp home to recuperate. That was not the case.
The Bucs came out motivated, organized, and playing not only with unbridled intensity by a cohesion that has not always been there this season. They were aggressive on the offensive end (causing foul trouble for the Grace Christian big……….at least the biggest of the many bigs they have rostered) and disruptive on the defensive end (5 deflections, 6 steals).
While the Bucs never led in the contest, they were in the game until the latter part of the third quarter. And, this is an example of one of those games in which the final score does not adequately depict how competitive it was for the majority of the 32 minutes.
The Bucs trailed by a mere 5 points (13-8) after the first quarter, and only 6 at the intermission (30-24). Some key moments in the third (Buc turnovers and missed FT’s followed by timely shooting and scoring by the Grizzlies) opened up the lead to 52-38 going into the final stanza.
Ultimately, the size and depth of the Grizzlies (the sport 9 Seniors) wore the Bucs down, as evidenced by the 36-14 rebounding advantage Grace had – resulting in a “points in the paint” scoring discrepancy of 38 to 20.
Bryce Tucker led the Buccaneers in scoring with 20, followed by Payton Gage with 11.
Upcoming games:
The Bucs now look forward to three consecutive weekends at home, beginning with the Valdez Elk’s Tournament February 9th, 10th, and 11th. The signature, and longest running, 8-team tournament in the State of Alaska features the Seward Seahawks, North Pole Patriots, Mt. Edgecumbe Braves, Delta Huskies, Barrow Whalers, Cordova Wolverines, and the Redington Huskies.