Galena boys claim first crown
Published Friday, March 21, 2008
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Stumble It!ANCHORAGE — Craig Aloysius and Tyler Yoder embraced by the Galena bench as Aloysius fought off tears of joy.
Tears he had every reason for. After all, the Galena Hawks just held down a King and took the crown.
Galena kept Bristol Bay standout Mason King from taking over the game, and their offense provided more than enough firepower as the Hawks took the Class 2A boys state high school basketball title with a resounding 73-49 win over the Angels.
“I’m just really happy right now,” said Aloysius, one of six Galena seniors. “All the hard work, the practicing, the sweat and blood, it finally paid off.”
It paid off in a big way, and Aloysius was at the center of it.
Galena coach Orin Wear challenged his point guard before the game, and Aloysius responded, running the Hawks’ fast-break offense as well as it had been run all season as the Hawks shot 46 percent from the field.
“Before the game, coach said a point guard should always have the ball and run the game,” Aloysius said. “I tried to do that.”
He more than succeeded, helping Yoder find open looks behind the arc and Roberto Burgess and Nathan Floyd to easy layups.
“That was all keyed by Craig,” Wear said. “That was the best game I’ve seen him play. Ever.”
Aloysius led the Hawks in scoring with 17 points, while Yoder added 13 — all in the first half — Brian Settle had 14 and Burgess had 12.
“This is what we were working for,” Burgess said. “I’ll remember this for life.”
Burgess also helped key a Hawks defense that might not have stopped King, but kept him in check. King finished with a game-high 28 points, but the mark was well short of the 47 points he put up to get the Angels to the finals.
“It (the plan) was just to give him different looks at the basket — while driving, while fading away. We made it difficult for him,” Wear said. “It’s amazing, he still had 28 points.”
It was the Hawks’ shooting touch that let them start pulling away in the second quarter.
After taking a 15-12 lead after one, the Hawks connected on five 3-pointers in the second quarter to take a 39-25 lead into half.
Tim Yoder led the way for the Hawks in the frame.
Yoder, coming off the bench, grew comfortable on the wings against the Angels’ 2-3 zone, giving the Hawks a five-point lead on a trey from the left side, then hit again from the exact same spot two possessions later to extend the Hawks advantage to 30-22.
“My coach thinks I do better when I come off the bench,” Yoder said. “Whatever works.”
Yoder than tried his luck from the right side on Galena’s next trip down the court, finding nothing but net and giving the Hawks a double digit advantage.
King tried to answer right back, but his mid-range jumper rimmed out and an open 3-point attempt went long, leaving Bristol Bay’s basketball regent visibly frustrated.
“I don’t feel much like talking about it,” King said.
King, who scored 71 points in his team’s first two games, was merely mortal in the first half, hardly flawed.
The Bristol Bay senior did most of his work from within 15 feet, pulling up in the lane or driving for layups off his two first-half steals. King went into the break 6-of-11 from the field for 13 points, with all but one of his misses coming from beyond the arc.
“I tried my hardest and stayed in front of him,” said Burgess, who guarded King when the Hawks played man. “He couldn’t make every shot (again). He already did that yesterday.”
The Hawks didn’t need to be sharp from beyond the arc in the second half — they were getting to the rim plenty. After switching to a zone press, the Hawks harassed Bristol Bay into 17 turnovers.
And after seven years of hard work under Wear for most of the Hawks seniors — they played for him in junior high — the Hawks found a way to claim the ultimate prize, the first state basketball title in Galena history.
“I don’t know (what to say), man,” Yoder said. “All that work just finally paid off.”
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AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Finally State Champions!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Absolutely awesome for sure. The whole tournament went well and was topped off by Galena taking the 2A Championship. Thank you Bering Straits School District students for helping the world see the games. It was absolutely breathtaking at times with the close scores. And, yes, all that hard work and 6 am practices paid off big time. I think Dad (Assistant Coach Sid Huntington) will remember this week for some time to come. Way to go, Hawks! God bless.
Great job,Galena Hawks!
I pulled for you and am sooo happy you Hawks won and thanks to ARCS for airing the game.
Galena Hawks Deserve Everything they worked for. people were mad that we made it to state but oh well they totally deserved it! Finally after all these years Sidney Huntington FINALLY got to see them win state! Thats just the best thing because he made such a wonderful commitment to the Galena Hawks team. for Many years hes been there mentor and Just encouraged them to do great. GREAT JOB HAWKS YOU ROCK!!!
Congratulations Hawks you all did an AWESOME job!!!
Way to go Hawks... You deserve the win and we are very proud of you. Keep up the good work Orin...You are awesome!!
Congratulations Galena! Once again thank you News Miner for coverage.
Congratulations on your boarding school and recruitment and waivers to stay in 2A for so long. Good luck playing Eielson next year
Congratulations Galena Hawks!!! 2A State Champions.
Special thank you to Sidney Huntington for being there for all the younger generation.
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