Boys win first Tip-Off title in four yearsPublished on January 28th, 2010 By VAN WILLIAMS
Misa Webber handles the basketball with ease during the championship game last Saturday night. (Joy Landaluce, Alaska Newspapers) 
McKyer Trumblee, foreground, and a teammate position for a rebound in the championship game against Kenai. (Joy Landaluce, Alaska Newspapers) 
Coaches Chris Canaski and Virginia Anderson give the Lady Wolverine's a clear plan of attack during the championship game. (Joy Landaluce, Alaska Newspapers) 
Lady wolverines; Misa Webber, Dani Hess and Teal Webber were chosen for the all-tournament team last Saturday night at the Tip-Off tournament. Teams included the Wolverines, Valdez Buccaneers, Wrangell Wolves and the Kenai Kardinals. (Joy Landaluce, Alaska Newspapers) 
All tournament team, from left: Seth Balint, Eric Johnson, Christian Brockert and Dane Meyer were chosen for the All- tournament team. Christian Brockert was chosen as the Tip-Off tournament's Most Valuable Player. (Joy Landaluce, Alaska Newspapers) 
Dane Meyer was the winner of the three-point shootout at the Tip-Off tournament. The winner is the player that shoots the most baskets in one minute. (Joy Landaluce, Alaska Newspapers) Last season as sophomores, the core of the Cordova boys basketball team took some licks. This time around they are giving them. Led by the Fab Four of juniors Christian Brockert, Seth Balint, Dane Meyer and Eric Johnson, the Wolverines whipped three teams in three days to lay claim to the annual Cordova Tip-Off Tourney. "I was very proud of our four all-tournament players," Cordova coach Jason Boerger said, "but also pleased with the energy provided by the rest of the team." After all, it takes five to play and an entire squad to win. The tournament championship was the first for the hometown Wolverines in four years. "It's been too long," Boerger said. Cordova beat Wrangell (67-36), Valdez (65-42) and Kenai (55-38) all in convincing fashion, improving to 9-1 on the season. Their 23.7-point average margin of victory shows just how well the Wolverines played. "It was a great tournament for us," Boerger said. Cordova girls coach Virginia Anderson echoed the same sentiments about her squad, even though the Lady Wolverines lost two of three games. That's because how you play sometimes means more than if you won. "This was a great tournament for Cordova with tough competition against Valdez and Kenai," she said. Teal Webber, Dani Hess and Misa Webber each were named to the all-tournament team. Cordova opened with a 57-26 win over Wrangell. Teal Webber's 20 points nearly outscored the entire Wrangell squad. Hess added 10 points, Misa Webber had eight and Karina Phillips had six. The next night's game against Valdez was everything you'd expect in a rivalry-physical play, tough players and a close game. Valdez won 39-36, but not before the Lady Wolverines made the Buccaneers sweat at the end. "Cordova came back only down by one in the final seconds and with the crowd going wild, Kaitlin Auble (of Valdez) came up big with an offensive rebound off a missed free throw to seal the win," Anderson said. Auble would later be named tournament MVP. Teal Webber had 14 points and Hess also came up big with a dozen. In the final game, Kenai beat Cordova 52-28 behind a barrage of 3-pointers. Making matters worse was the fact that Hess went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter, leaving a huge hole to fill. "We were without our main rebounder and inside threat for the remainder of the game," Anderson said of losing Hess. "The Lady Wolverines struggled against a senior-dominated Kenai team." Misa Webber led the way with 10 points. Angela Beedle chipped in six points. Both Cordova teams are home again this week, hosting Nikiski Friday and Saturday. Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at 907-348-2452 or 800-770-9830, ext. 452 |
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The Cordova Times is a publication of Alaska Newspapers, Inc. This article is © 2010 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Newspapers, Inc. makes no provisions for further distribution.