Cordova’s young basketball teams had a taste of what travel for sporting events in Alaska is all about.
Venturing to Tok for an invitational tournament on Oct. 10-12, the Thursday morning ferry was almost cancelled due to mechanical problem, so instead of leaving at 5 a.m. it departed at l p.m., arriving in Whittier after 7 p.m. So the teams had to wait for the 8 p.m. tunnel and then ride a bus nine hours, getting to Tok at 5 a.m. with three games to play that day.
The girls squad ended up losing to the eventual B bracket champion and both the A champion winner and runner-up. Genevieve Nothstine and Sierra Westing were selected for sportsmanship awards. Lillian Ervin-Adkinson was chosen for the All Tourney team.
Playing on four hours sleep, the Cordova B boys beat Valdez B in overtime. Next the B boys topped Minto to advance to the championship game. They scored 35 points to defeat Tri-Valley and finish first.
The A boys’ first game against Delta was a tough loss, with Cordova short-handed off the bench. In fact, both the Cordova A and B teams were playing at the same time due the way the brackets worked out.
Cordova did better against Glennallen. With substitutes from the B team available, Cordova poured in 50 points to win big.
Cordova’s A team final game was against Tri-Valley.
“We fought hard but lost by 1 point, 38-37, knocking us out of the A team bracket,” said boys Coach Josh Pearson.
Cordova’s Peter Solberg and Micah Pearson were selected for sportsmanship awards. Wesley Sheridan and Bastien Wegner were named to the All Tourney team.
“It was a very long trip on minimal sleep, but the boys were troopers and our B team brought home a championship,” Pearson said. “Go Wolverines.”
