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KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — A trio of Anaheim, California moms and an aunt waited outside Ketchikan High School government teacher Greg Middag's classroom, which doubled as a locker room. Inside, a dozen young women from Esperanza High School and their coaches gathered around each other for a post-game huddle on Monday afternoon. They put hands in and shouted homage to their mascot, the Aztecs, before breaking up into high-volume chatter.
One mother stepped into the room before the team scattered into the hallway and called for their attention.
"Who threw the T-shirt out — was it Sierra? Well, the person that caught it thought it was really nice, so he wanted to give you this," she said and held up a maroon and white Kayhi Kings beanie.
The girls on the team, all in 10th- through 12th-grade, burst into excited squeals and laughter. A light-hearted argument ensued over who was supposed to throw the T-shirt in an Esperanza tradition. Team captain and Esperanza senior Sierra Sorenson confirmed she was the one who threw the red and gold T-shirt into the crowd before the game
Her teammates teased her as they left the room, spilling into the hallways in a mob of white and red uniforms, big backpacks and quite a bit of noise.
"Sierra has a boyfriend — ooooohhh," one teammate cooed.
"In Alaska, of all places," Sorenson said and put on the cap.
Some 200 high school students from around the state and the West Coast visited Ketchikan last month for the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic basketball tournament. The Esperanza Aztecs came the farthest, traveling from Anaheim, California, but teams came from as close as Prince of Wales' Craig to as far north as Fairbanks.
Ketchikan School District Activities Director Ed Klein said most visiting teams hear about the tournament through word-of-mouth.
"Teams go back down to their conference tournaments and they tell people what a great time they had at the tournament in Ketchikan and they contact us. A lot of the Alaska teams are on a regular rotation and they come back every three or four years. ... We are always looking for teams to fill the tournament, so we rarely turn anybody down."
Most of the teams in this year's tournament are returning teams — Esperanza and the Panthers from University Preparatory School in Redding, California are this year's only first-time teams to Ketchikan.
University Prep's coach Steven Schuster said coming to Ketchikan makes the public charter school more competitive in their hometown.
"We're in a town of 100,000, and there are 10 high schools. We're the only one that's going to cool places, so it's nice to highlight that when teams come to my school," Schuster said. "In Ketchikan, you know you're going to (Kayhi) because it's the only option, but for us, we need to do things that set us apart. Kids from different teams are going on and liking photos on Instagram and stuff of our adventures in
Ketchikan, and it just sticks out to kids as they're deciding which school they want to go to."
Schuster said another benefit of the tournament is the audience.
"One of the things that the community has been talking about is the gym is going to have some more people in it, which girls' basketball doesn't typically play (for large crowds) in California. We don't see many people in the gym to watch games."
Anacortes High School head coach Brett Senff — whose team is from Washington state — said the tournament presents an opportunity to play teams outside of local leagues, though some teams are already familiar.
"It's been great competition and with different teams that we hadn't seen before," Senff said Tuesday, adding "we used to have kind of a rivalry with Petersburg, so we know them, and it's good to get up here."
Klein said the community plays a big role in making the tournament possible, especially local hotels that donate rooms for coaches and families who volunteer to house players. But the fans play a big part, too, especially when the workday ends.
"It will be a lot more fun (for the evening games) because the gym will be full. In the daytime, unfortunately people have to work. Why don't they come watch basketball?" Klein said. "A lot of the die-hards, they take days off on the tournament days because they like the three full days of basketball."
Local referee Danny Smith is one of those die-hards.
"I take vacation just to come ref these games. I take time off to be here. It's enjoyable to come out and see the people, the fans, the kids from the different schools that come in," Smith said.
Smith said he's been reffing the tournament for the past five years and has become familiar with returning coaches. He said he gets stopped in the grocery store by out-of-towners quite often this time of year.
"It's a joy that (the coaches) recognize me and know that I'm still here," Smith said, adding, "you know them, shake hands, say, 'It's nice to see you back here again.' Even though they yell at me half the time, we still enjoy each other."
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Information from: Ketchikan (Alaska) Daily News, http://www.ketchikandailynews.com
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