Wrestling State Tournament: (Coach Tyler Thompson)
Dustin Woods and Jana Allen took to the mat one last time for the season at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. Dustin Woods suffered an early loss to Unalaska and a second round loss to the number two seed from Homer. Jana Allen Lost her first round match to Mt. Edgecumbe and a second round loss to Newhalen. Although the matches didn’t go in our favor they wrestled hard and with a lot of heart. Congratulations on a great Season Jana & Dustin.
Our wrestlers have worked incredibly hard this season and should be proud of their performance and improvement. Our wrestlers are still young with much to learn and a lot of time to grow. With their commitment to training in the off season we are setting our eyes on a regional title and moving onto that podium at the state tournament.
Nordic Ski: (Coach Timi Miner & Coach Mel Koontz)
Saturday the Cross Country Ski held their first town race, a 2.6km skate sprint. Conditions weren’t favorable. It snowed on top of our groomed trail and switched between snow and rain throughout the day as temperatures continued to be above freezing. Skiers pushed through the challenging conditions. The conditions required skiers to switch between different techniques to adjust to the variable terrain. Seniors Ben Swanson came in at 10:55 and Josten Carlson at 12:33. Junior Rowan Miller came in at 17:45. We would like to thank Mark Prevost for all of his trail grooming efforts this season- our race would not have been possible without him!
The community is invited to participate in our future town races which will take place on December 30th, January 6th, January 20th, and February 3rd. All races begin at 10 AM at Cato Bridge.
Students 8th through 12th grade are invited to join us on Mondays and Tuesdays from 3:30 to 5:00 to see what the ski team is all about, want to learn how to ski, or would just like to work out with us. Meet at the ski room in the high school. This is a free program and attendance is not required, come whenever you want! We have limited equipment available to borrow.
Boys JV Basketball: (Coach Lee Chadwick)
We had a great trip to Cordova. Many of the players had never been here before, or been on a ferry. Cordova has treated us well, and we have enjoyed the trip.
We won the first JV game 40-27 and the second game 56-48. James Letendre and Jimmy Chavez led the scoring, with great defensive performances from Gage Critchlow and Austin Wilczynski. Doug Cummins led the rebounding with 25 combined offensive/defensive rebounds.
Girls JV Basketball: (Coach Fred Hill)
The girls JV Basketball team hosted the JV girls from Glennallen this past weekend, in the first home basketball games of the season. Cordova did not have enough girls for a JV game, so the JV girls could not make the boat ride to Cordova. Glennallen was nice enough to come to Valdez for a series of games.
Friday the score was Valdez 30 – Glennallen 22. Keyona Tudela was high scorer with 8 points.
Saturday the score was Valdez 34 – Glennallen 15. Rylee King was high scorer with 12 points.
Both days the girls played great defense.
We are working hard daily to improve. The next JV gams will be at the Mornore Catholic “Cosmo Fantazzi” Basketball Tournament in Fairbanks on December 28-30.
Boys Varsity Basketball: (Coach Todd Wegner)
Thursday, December 14th the Buccaneers departed Valdez at 12:00 p.m. on the Fast Ferry Fairweather and arrived in Cordova at 2:30 p.m., 29 hours prior to game time. As always, Cordova was the ultimate host. They provided a place for us to stay without having to move during the school day and feed all of us, which was much appreciated.
Rekindling a rivalry and visiting with friends in Cordova was the highlight of the weekend. The boys were itching to get on the floor after practicing for the past 2 ½ weeks.
On Friday night, the buccaneers came out and played intense on defense and looked to one another on offense. The final score was 70-46. The offense was led by Junior Bennett Hinkle who had 25 points on 10 of 13 from the field and 5 for 6 from the line, along with two monster dunks. He was followed by Logan Heckathorn who had 16 points on 8 for 11 shooting from the field.
The buccaneer boy’s toughness came through, they were diving on the floor after loose balls, helping each other on defense and taking charges. All which are staples of the style and type of play they hang their hats on each and every game.
Saturday night the bucs came out again playing tough defense winning 69-17. Bucs were led in scoring by Bennett Hinkle with 16, followed by Jalen Freeman with 13, Ike Watson with 12 and Logan Heckathorn with 10. All twelve men gave a great defensive effort holding the Wolverines to 17 points.
The Buccaneers will practice this next week, take a few days off for Christmas and then participate in the McKinley Tournament in Fairbanks which is hosted by Monroe on January 4-6, 2018. Barrow and Grace will also be participating. We are looking forward to competing in this tournament. All four teams played in last year’s state championships semi-finals.
Girls Varsity Basketball: (Coach Doug Fleming)
The Lady Bucs began the 2017-2018 season with a pair of wins over the Cordova Wolverines, Friday night saw the Lady Bucs rely on their press to set the tempo and defeat the Cordova 59-15. The Lady Bucs combined for 21 assists and 21 steals in the win along with all 11 girls scoring.
Saturday saw a similar scenario with the Bucs coming out with a 60-27 win.
The Lady’s are off till January 4th when they travel to ACS to compete in the Pepsi Lime Solar Tournament, game one will be January 4th at 4pm against Bethel.
Basketball Cheerleaders: (Coach Tina Fifarek)
Buccaneer Cheer-Cordova Wrap-Up
Buccaneer Cheer traveled to Cordova the weekend of December 15 with the basketball teams to provide support, school spirit and cheer on the Bucs.
The 2017/18 team consists of 5 returners and 5 freshmen; 2 who have never held pom-poms, 2 who cheered in 6th grade and 1 with three years of middle school cheer under her belt. And, for the first time in my coaching tenure, we have a manager. However, only 9 of the girls traveled to Cordova and what a learning experience it was! The first game is always rough – regardless of experience. This team handled it with grace and spirit. The newbies learned a tremendous amount that they took into the following games, and the veterans mentored while keeping the Valdez spirit in full force.
Having only a dozen or so practices, Buccaneer Cheer has been busy learning cheers, chants, motions, jumps, stunting and dance. They performed this dance at half-time of the final game Saturday evening hitting every motion and jump in synchronization along with building a couple of group stunts. However, the highlight of the weekend was joining forces with the Cordova Cheer team and performing a Cordova crowd favorite during a quarter break on Saturday. There is nothing better than when cheer teams work together to keep the crowd spirited and involved in the action!
Buccaneer Cheer is looking forward to our first home games in January to showcase all we have learned and to cheer on our teams as we take on the Hutchinson Hawks. Let’s Go Bucs!
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