Members of the Ketchikan High School girls varsity team celebrate an overtime win over Thunder Mountain at the Region V 4A Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School Thursday.
Photo by Michael Penn/Juneau Empire
Freshman Jayley Taylor Powers Lady Kings
By JOHN BORNEMAN
Daily News Sports Editor
JUNEAU — Coach Kelly Smith and the rest of the Kayhi girls basketball team didn’t want their season to come to an end Thursday afternoon.
Thanks to a Lady King with plenty of games left in her Kayhi career, it didn’t.
Jayley Taylor led all scorers with 18 points — nine in the fourth quarter and overtime — and Kayhi outlasted Thunder Mountain 46-42 to stay alive at the 4A Southeast Regional in Juneau. The freshman guard scored five of Kayhi’s seven points in the extra period, setting up a regional final date with No. 1-seeded Juneau-Douglas at 6:50 p.m. Friday.
“We wanted at least another day together,” Smith said. “To have to prepare for basketball and warm up and do all that stuff. We talked about that before the game and during half.”
Members of the Ketchikan High School girls varsity team celebrate an overtime win over Thunder Mountain at the Region V 4A Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School Thursday.
Photo by Michael Penn/Juneau Empire
Kayhi missed a chance to end the game in regulation when a floater by Erin Doherty rattled out at the buzzer, sending the 39-39 game to a four-minute overtime.
The score remained unchanged until Taylor grabbed a loose ball and went streaking down the right sideline, barely beating a Thunder Mountain defender to the hoop for a coast-to-coast layup and a 41-39 Kayhi lead with 2:45 to play. Doherty followed with a nice step-through move that earned her two free throws, converting both to put the Lady Kings ahead by four.
Thunder Mountain scored three straight points on a Katie Tarver free throw and a Michaela Demmert layup to make it 43-42, Kayhi. After the teams traded turnovers, Taylor found herself at the free-throw line with 23.8 seconds left.
She calmly sank both to put the Lady Kings ahead by three, then followed a Thunder Mountain turnover with a 1-for-2 trip to ice the game with 9.4 seconds on the clock.
“I was telling myself, ‘I have to secure the win,’ ” Taylor said. “I’m just thinking, ‘Up and in’ and ignoring the crowd. I do my best to block out everything in my mind.”
Taylor was a major factor long before the extra period, carrying a Kayhi offense that didn’t score a field goal for the first 10 minutes of regulation.
She hit a go-ahead 3-pointer midway through the third quarter and connected with Doherty on a long outlet pass that yielded a transition layup at the end of the period. Then she went four for five from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter — including a pair that cut a three-point Thunder Mountain lead to 37-36 with 1:36 to play — to help set up Kayhi’s comeback. Taylor went 11 for 13 on free throws in the game and hit three important field goals.
Didn’t she know the only March shots freshmen are supposed to make come during the pregame layup line?
“Apparently not,” Taylor said, flashing her ever-present grin. “I don’t know what I was doing, I just did not want to lose.”
Taylor barely played for Kayhi early in the season and wasn’t even in the varsity team photo until a breakout performance in Ketchikan’s Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic.
Here’s guessing that won’t be the case next season.
“Jayley’s a special player,” Smith said. “She has a world of potential and she has the right attitude. I walked in the locker room and it was just me and (assistant coach Jenn Smith), and I said, ‘We get her for three more years.’ ”
Kayhi recovered from a lethargic start with a 14-6 run in the second quarter, and led by one point at the start of the fourth. Smith said both defenses were reluctant to foul, which allowed both offenses to heat up as the lead swung back-and-forth over the final eight minutes.
Junior Shiree Sells drew a foul with the Lady Kings trailing 37-34 and two minutes left in regulation. She hit both free throws to cut the Thunder Mountain lead to one. Taylor forced a steal at midcourt on Thunder Mountain’s next possession, leading to a pair of freebies for junior Melissa Elliott, which she split to tie the game.
Kayhi had a chance to win with 4.3 seconds left in regulation when senior Erin Doherty took an inbounds pass, used a pretty step-through move to free in the lane and lofted up a right-handed floater that bounced around and out as the buzzer sounded.
“If I was in Vegas, I would’ve bet it was in. I think it hit all parts of the rim,” Smith said.
Doherty finished with 12 points for Kayhi, which also got five apiece from Sells and Elliott.
Jonelle Staveland (13 points), Tarver (nine points) and Demmert (nine points) led a Thunder Mountain team that is in excellent shape for next year. The Falcons went 1-7 in Southeast play this season, but will lose just one senior and should return every prominent player on their roster.
Juneau awaits Kayhi in the region finals, having already beaten the Lady Kings 64-30 in Wednesday’s semifinal round. The Crimson Bears are the defending region and state champions, are 23-1 this season, and have won eight of the last nine Southeast titles.
So Kayhi’s season might end Friday. At least the Lady Kings got another day.
“We did not want to end our season losing to Thunder Mountain,” Taylor said. “We’re really happy in (the locker room). When that buzzer went off I felt so lightheaded. Just relieved.”
Kayhi’s regional final game with Juneau, slated to begin at 6:50 p.m. Friday, will be broadcast online by Juneau-Douglas High School. A link can be found at www.kayhibasketball.com.
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Daily News Sports Editor
JUNEAU — Coach Kelly Smith and the rest of the Kayhi girls basketball team didn’t want their season to come to an end Thursday afternoon.
Thanks to a Lady King with plenty of games left in her Kayhi career, it didn’t.
Jayley Taylor led all scorers with 18 points — nine in the fourth quarter and overtime — and Kayhi outlasted Thunder Mountain 46-42 to stay alive at the 4A Southeast Regional in Juneau. The freshman guard scored five of Kayhi’s seven points in the extra period, setting up a regional final date with No. 1-seeded Juneau-Douglas at 6:50 p.m. Friday.
“We wanted at least another day together,” Smith said. “To have to prepare for basketball and warm up and do all that stuff. We talked about that before the game and during half.”
Members of the Ketchikan High School girls varsity team celebrate an overtime win over Thunder Mountain at the Region V 4A Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School Thursday.
Photo by Michael Penn/Juneau Empire
Kayhi missed a chance to end the game in regulation when a floater by Erin Doherty rattled out at the buzzer, sending the 39-39 game to a four-minute overtime.
The score remained unchanged until Taylor grabbed a loose ball and went streaking down the right sideline, barely beating a Thunder Mountain defender to the hoop for a coast-to-coast layup and a 41-39 Kayhi lead with 2:45 to play. Doherty followed with a nice step-through move that earned her two free throws, converting both to put the Lady Kings ahead by four.
Thunder Mountain scored three straight points on a Katie Tarver free throw and a Michaela Demmert layup to make it 43-42, Kayhi. After the teams traded turnovers, Taylor found herself at the free-throw line with 23.8 seconds left.
She calmly sank both to put the Lady Kings ahead by three, then followed a Thunder Mountain turnover with a 1-for-2 trip to ice the game with 9.4 seconds on the clock.
“I was telling myself, ‘I have to secure the win,’ ” Taylor said. “I’m just thinking, ‘Up and in’ and ignoring the crowd. I do my best to block out everything in my mind.”
Taylor was a major factor long before the extra period, carrying a Kayhi offense that didn’t score a field goal for the first 10 minutes of regulation.
She hit a go-ahead 3-pointer midway through the third quarter and connected with Doherty on a long outlet pass that yielded a transition layup at the end of the period. Then she went four for five from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter — including a pair that cut a three-point Thunder Mountain lead to 37-36 with 1:36 to play — to help set up Kayhi’s comeback. Taylor went 11 for 13 on free throws in the game and hit three important field goals.
Didn’t she know the only March shots freshmen are supposed to make come during the pregame layup line?
“Apparently not,” Taylor said, flashing her ever-present grin. “I don’t know what I was doing, I just did not want to lose.”
Taylor barely played for Kayhi early in the season and wasn’t even in the varsity team photo until a breakout performance in Ketchikan’s Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic.
Here’s guessing that won’t be the case next season.
“Jayley’s a special player,” Smith said. “She has a world of potential and she has the right attitude. I walked in the locker room and it was just me and (assistant coach Jenn Smith), and I said, ‘We get her for three more years.’ ”
Kayhi recovered from a lethargic start with a 14-6 run in the second quarter, and led by one point at the start of the fourth. Smith said both defenses were reluctant to foul, which allowed both offenses to heat up as the lead swung back-and-forth over the final eight minutes.
Junior Shiree Sells drew a foul with the Lady Kings trailing 37-34 and two minutes left in regulation. She hit both free throws to cut the Thunder Mountain lead to one. Taylor forced a steal at midcourt on Thunder Mountain’s next possession, leading to a pair of freebies for junior Melissa Elliott, which she split to tie the game.
Kayhi had a chance to win with 4.3 seconds left in regulation when senior Erin Doherty took an inbounds pass, used a pretty step-through move to free in the lane and lofted up a right-handed floater that bounced around and out as the buzzer sounded.
“If I was in Vegas, I would’ve bet it was in. I think it hit all parts of the rim,” Smith said.
Doherty finished with 12 points for Kayhi, which also got five apiece from Sells and Elliott.
Jonelle Staveland (13 points), Tarver (nine points) and Demmert (nine points) led a Thunder Mountain team that is in excellent shape for next year. The Falcons went 1-7 in Southeast play this season, but will lose just one senior and should return every prominent player on their roster.
Juneau awaits Kayhi in the region finals, having already beaten the Lady Kings 64-30 in Wednesday’s semifinal round. The Crimson Bears are the defending region and state champions, are 23-1 this season, and have won eight of the last nine Southeast titles.
So Kayhi’s season might end Friday. At least the Lady Kings got another day.
“We did not want to end our season losing to Thunder Mountain,” Taylor said. “We’re really happy in (the locker room). When that buzzer went off I felt so lightheaded. Just relieved.”
Kayhi’s regional final game with Juneau, slated to begin at 6:50 p.m. Friday, will be broadcast online by Juneau-Douglas High School. A link can be found at www.kayhibasketball.com.
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