Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The season is over for the Haines Glacier Bears girls' basketball team after their trip to the ASAA March Madness 2A State Championship resulted in back-to-back losses to the Glenallen Panthers and the Craig Panthers. This brings to an end the careers of four seniors who lifted their team from the basement of Region V to a fourth-place seed in the state tournament.

The Glacier Bears season record is officially listed as 14-6 on the MaxPreps website, but the team played over a dozen more games than that as they barnstormed to multiple tournaments in Alaska and Yukon Territory, winning them all.

This state championship tournament was the final time that Haines' solid core of four seniors will play together wearing Glacier Bear uniforms. Malia Jorgenson-Geise, MacKenzie Dryden and team captains Grace Long Godinez and Alison Benda all brought different strengths and styles to the court, but they shared a common love of the game and never ceased to give everything they had for the good of the team. They began their career as Glacier Bears in the 2019-2020 season when Coleman Stanford stepped in to coach the team. Together, they brought an end to the Glacier Bears multi-year conference losing streak and delivered their team to the state tournament after a twenty-two-year absence.

The tournament was held at Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on the homecourt of the University of Alaska Seawolves. The gymnasium was divided in half by a curtain and two games were played simultaneously on either side. The fans watched from the balconies above the court and horns and whistles from the games on either side of the curtain overlapped. No pep bands played.

Before the tournament began, players met for a friendly round of "bump." Grace Long-Godinez was the winner in the guard division.

In the first round the Glacier Bears faced fifth seeded Glenallen. The Panthers, looking to improve upon their third -place finish in the 2022 state tournament, used a disciplined half court defense to hold Haines scoreless in the first quarter. The Glacier Bear attack roared to life in the second quarter to go on a 13-3 run, thanks to a pair of field goals and a pair of free throws by Ari'el Godinez Long as well a bucket and a free throw by Gracie Stickler, who commanded the rebounding, and baskets by Grace Long Godinez and Jorgenson-Geise. At the half, Haines held a 13-9 lead.

Glenallen's tournament experience showed in the second half and after shooting only 9% from the field in the first half, they shot a blistering 58% in the second, including hitting three for five from three-point range. Meanwhile, on the other end they made it very difficult for Haines to find an open shot, smoothly helping each other out on defense and keeping a hand in any potential shooter's face. The Panther starting five played almost every minute of the game and they scored 15 points in each of the last two periods to come away with the 39-23 victory and advance to the semi-finals.

Immediately following each tournament game, a "player of the game" from each team is announced. For Glenallen in the quarterfinal, it was sophomore Cheyenne Fields who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. For Haines, it was sophomore Ari'el Godinez Long who had 10 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Gracie Stickler had 11 rebounds, five of them offensive.

Coach Natalie Benassi brought a four-person Cheer and Stunt squad to cheer on the team and perform at the tournament. Ruby Martin and Isabelle Alamillo cheerfully accepted "cheerleader of the game" awards at mid-court in the post-game ceremony.

The win sent Glenallen onto the semifinals to face the top-seeded, defending champion Tikigaq Harpooners and the Haines loss meant they got to play their old friends, the Craig Panthers.

It was the sixth meeting of the season between the two teams. After losing to the Panthers in the opening round of the regional tournament, the Glacier Bears had vanquished their rivals to go to state. However, based on their strong regular season and tournament performance, Craig was awarded an at-large bid to the big dance.

The teams first met this January in the finals of the Rally in Denali tournament. In that one Haines came back from an eight -point deficit in the final minute to win on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Alison Benda. The teams next met in Haines and Craig won handily on the first night and Haines squeaked by with a one-point win on the second. Then it was on to the regional tournament. Craig beat Haines in the first round 37-31. Then in the final game of the tournament Haines beat Craig 45-35.

On Friday afternoon at the Alaska Airlines Center, it was Craig's turn to be victorious again.

Cold shooting once again hampered the Glacier Bears who shot only 20% from the field compared to 50% for Craig. The two teams were dead even on rebounds with 28 apiece. Craig led at the half, 25-15 and led 33-22 after three quarters.

Battling to earn the right to extend their season by one more day, the Glacier Bears sought to conjure one more rally in a season that's seen a few of them. Digging deep, they ratcheted up the full court press. Alison Benda pulled down rebounds, dove for loose balls and drained two three pointers. Haines had their highest scoring frame of the tournament and outscored Craig 14-6 in the final quarter but, in the end, they ran out of time. They lost 41-36 and their breakthrough season was over.

Amiaya Hansen was selected as the player of the game for Craig and once again the honor for Haines went to Ari'el Godinez Long. Godinez Long had 13 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals. Benda had six, Jorgenson-Geise had five, Stickler had four to go along with nine rebounds and Grace Long Godinez and MacKenzie Dryden each chipped in four.

Cheer and Stunt team members Fiona Tormey and MJ Hotch received "cheerleader of the game" awards.

While this year's March Madness can be called the end of an era, it could also be seen as just the end of the beginning of an era. Next year's Glacier Bear team should feature five players with experience playing on the big stage of the state tournament. The hustle, the teamwork and the never-say-die attitude that Jorgenson-Geise, Dryden, Long Godinez and Benda built into the framework of their school's program will not soon be forgotten.

On Saturday night, the girls' final featured the second seeded Metlakatla MisChiefs from Alaska's most southeastern community and the top-seeded Tikigaq Harpoonettes, from the most northwestern community in Alaska. Tikigaq won for their second straight state championship.

The Tikigaq fans supported their team with a rhythmic clap and the Metlakatla fans countered with their signature "Wiya Wah" chant. Joining the chant and loudly supporting the Metlakatla team throughout the game were Coach Stanford and twelve Glacier Bears. They shared some thoughts about their team and their sport.

Gracie Stickler said, "Transferring from Juneau to Haines with basketball has been a lot but it is something that will always make me happy no matter what. It will forever and always be my favorite."

Grace Long Godinez said, "I love the people that are involved with basketball that make it so much fun. My teammates, coaches, community members, etc. It has brought people together and I think it really shows in our community how basketball has brought us all closer together through the girls' basketball team's journey and our hard work the last few years."

Alison Benda said, "(Something) I love about basketball is that it makes me feel free. When I get on the court, my mind is free of all other burdens and all I can think about is playing the game."

MacKenzie Dryden said, "I love that not only do we have a whole team that supports each other but we also have a whole community cheering us on."