The Nome Nanook basketball teams had a different type of home court advantage this past weekend as they hosted Kotzebue, Nikiski, and St. Michael at the Nome Recreation Center. The Nome boys came out as the more dominant of the two NBHS teams, beating Nikiski in both games, while the girls split their matchups.
The Nanook boys saw an emerging Caden Hanebuth lead the team with a double-double, scoring 14 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and recording 6 assists in Nome’s win on Saturday.
Stephan Anderson added in 19 points and 8 rebounds of his own as Nome won 59-48 against the Nikiski bulldogs. This was a slightly closer margin than the previous day’s game where they won 51-34.
Boys’ coach Pat Callahan explains why this win was so meaningful.
“Nikiski beat us on a buzzer-beater at the Kotzebue tournament. Going into that game I think we thought we were going to win that game easily and it turns out you have to work hard and play hard to win a game.”
– Pat Callahan
For the girls’ games, Friday’s matchup went in the Nanooks’ favor, as they won by 3 and put up 62 points as a team. Saturday, however, did not produce the same result, with the Nome girls losing 67-58 in double overtime. Consistent leading scorer Lisa Okbaok put up 24 points for the Nanooks, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game to the first overtime. Brooke Anungazuk added 20 points in the Nome girl’s loss.
On the JV side, the Nome boys’ “A” squad had an up and down weekend against St. Michael’s varsity team. After the Storm nearly doubled Nome’s score in a blowout on Friday, 88-45, the Nanooks came back and beat St. Michael 81-77 in an overtime game of their own. Brandon Smith scored 32 points for Nome and Alvin Washington had 32 of his own for St. Michael.
For junior high teams, Nome’s “A,” “B,” and “C” all lost to Kotzebue’s respective equivalents.
Coach Callahan mentioned that the NBHS boys are 2-2 in conference play, while the Nome girls are 1-3. Even with that record though, Callahan mentions they have all been close games
“Conference records don’t actually mean anything; we just vote on seeding at the end of the year.”
– Pat Callahan
Bering Strait School District saw 11 matchups over the weekend. At the top of the Bering Sea Conference standings, Shishmaref and Shaktoolik are tied for first with a commanding lead over the rest of the conference with a 9-2 record each. Shaktoolik has the edge in conference play at 8-0. Brevig Mission is third at 5-1. The Bering Sea Conference Tournament is scheduled to begin in Unalakleet on March 2nd.
Next up for the Nanooks is having the Galena girls’ teams in town for senior night this weekend. The boys will head to Galena this weekend and their senior night won’t be held until next month versus Unalakleet.
Image at top: Stock image of a basketball, photo from Mitch Borden, KNOM.
