Su Valley Basketballers take Tri-Valley Tournament

The Su Valley boys and girls varsity basketball teams both took the top spots at the Tri Valley Tournament in Healy over the weekend. The Girls team won all three games they played, including a narrow victory of 33 to 30 over Wasilla Lake to win the championship game. Su-Valley Athletics Director James Sickler coaches the girls team, and says the lady rams are looking as strong this year as any team he’s coached so far.

The boys varsity team won all 4 games they appeared in, and overcame Kotzebue to win their championship game. Kotzebue is known for having a consistently strong basketball program, and Sickler credits the boys’ coach Michael Matthews with doing a good job of scouting the Kotzebue team and coming up with a plan to shut them down.

Four boys and three girls received Individual Player Recognitions at the tournament. Dawson Matthews, Stone Krueger, Mitch Drover and Nick Hogan all received medals for the boys team, and Sebrina Jurasek, Emily Hartley, and Bailey Stevenson received medals for the girls team. Stevenson also received the tournament’s MVP award.

The Rams next major tournament is the Nenana Invitational Tournament during the first week of February, and Sickler says it is the best small-school tournament in the state. At the end of February the Rams will host their own three-day tournament, the Crowley Classic.