Kake’s Rudy Bean and Hoonah’s Travis

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Sitka scored the first 19 points of the game and finished the first quarter with a 27-7 lead over Kake in their Thursday semifinal game. Tom Anderson, Syd Eubanks, Matt Love, Jeremy Plank and Mitch Mork all tallied five points in the first 10 minutes of action.

Kake played Sitka even in the second quarter as Jay Peterson, Nick Davis, Brandon Jackson and Anthony Ross all found the scorebook but the deficit at halftime was 46-25 and Sitka stretched that out to 71-39 after three quarters.

Sitka advances to Saturday’s 3 p.m. Masters Bracket championship game against the winner of Friday’s 3 p.m. Kake and Klukwan matchup.

Sitka’s Norm Staton (32) and Kake’s Burt Jackson (44) go for a rebound during Sitka’s 87-46 Masters Bracket elimination game win Thursday at the 76th Annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empir
Sitka’s Norm Staton (32) and Kake’s Burt Jackson (44) go for a rebound during Sitka’s 87-46 Masters Bracket elimination game win Thursday at the 76th Annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empir

Sitka 87 – Mork 26, Anderson 14 (3F), Eubanks 13 (1F), Love 10, Plank 8, Gary Smith 8, Harry Bradley 4, Cliff Richter 2 (1F), Ray Kitka 2. Sitka hit 6-9 from the free throw line.

Kake 46 – Peterson 15 (1F), N. Davis 10, Brandon Jackson 6 (1F), A. Ross 5 (1F), Lloyd Davis 4, Tim James 3, Pete Vernetti 2 (4F). Kake hit 6-8 from the line.

Dybdahl shake hands at halftime of Kake’s 56-53 C Bracket elimination game win over Hoonah on Thursday at the 76th Annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Kake’s Rudy Bean and Hoonah’s Travis Dybdahl shake hands at halftime of Kake’s 56-53 C Bracket elimination game win over Hoonah on Thursday at the 76th Annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball country wise email marketing list Tournament in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)

C BRACKET

KAKE 56, HOONAH 53

Derek Knudsen hit a basket with one minute remaining to give Kake a 54-53 lead over Hoonah in their elimination game and brought the Kake fans to their feet.

Then he kept them there as he pulled down a missed Hoonah shot and was fouled and calmly sank two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to ice the game 56-53.

Kake still had to play defense for 15 seconds, but they swarmed Hoonah shooters and after two misses the ball tipped out to Kake’s Rudy Bean who dribbled like a wizard past a defender as the buzzer sounded sending Kake to a 5 p.m. Friday elimination game for a spot in the championship contest.

The teams had stayed within four points of each other through the first quarter and Hoonah’s Jon Torres tipped a shot in at the buzzer to take a 13-13 tie into the second 10 minutes of play.