Last weekend Nome-Beltz hosted the annual Alumni Tournament with “Young Bucks” and “Old-Timers” returning to the court.
The tourney started with a match between the girls’ JV team and Lady Nanook alumni. The alumni put up a tough fight but JV eked out a win by a single point, 34-35. Senora Ahmasuk and Lisa Okbaok led the alumni team in points with 13 and 10 each.
Second up the Old-Timers took on the boys' B & C teams. The game started with a full-circle moment with class of 2005’s Brendan Tran lining up against his son, Gabe Tran, for the tipoff. Solomon Booshu, class of 1986, donned a white “Gnomites” jersey and put up 3 points en route to the alumni team’s narrow defeat, 58-51. Brendan Tran balled out with 10 points and Klay Baker put up two three-pointers in the 3rd quarter, finishing with eight points total.
The Lady Nanook alumni returned to the court next to face off against the varsity girls. The deep bench of the varsity team proved to be a challenge, with the ten players putting up an average of nearly 7 points each. That match finished with a score of 68-28.
By the final match of the night a raucous crowd packed the stands of the Nome-Beltz gym. The Young Bucks alumni team faced off against a rotating lineup of Nanooks. Coach Pat Callahan said he coached the entire Young Buck team at one point in his career.
“Winks having a big game, of course, out there Greatest Name and Alaska sports, right? Wink Winkelman," Callahan recalled. "Lonnie is out there stealing the ball like he used to do. Richard Cross is hitting three pointers from the corner like he did for us the last three years."
The Young Bucks put up a fight to the finish with a 59-64 win to cap off the night. Winkelman put up 24 points alone on the way to their triumphant win.
The teams, Callahan said, were practicing some load management to stay fresh for this weekend’s Subway Showdown. Kevin Ongtowasruk, Kendall Ulroan, and Finn Gregg took over coaching for Callahan this weekend. He said he was proud of the way the young men stepped into that role.
“Couple of our guys wanted to coach, and that's always a good way for guys to see the other side of the game a little bit. And so they did, and we had fun with it," Callahan said.
The Nanooks will be back in action Thursday at Nome-Beltz for the Subway Showdown. We’ll have coverage from that on next week’s Nanook Sports Minute.
