“There’s not going to be basketball here,” said high schooler John Erhart Jr. “This is like a basketball community.”
Savien Linnear, Anthony “Buzz” Kennedy and Isaac Morgan take advice and a water break during halftime in their semifinal game against Scammon Bay at this year’s Alaska’s 1A High School State Championship Tournament.
It was the last high school basketball game Tanana will play for a long time. Four of the team’s seven players are graduating seniors this spring. And there isn’t anyone old enough to fill their spots. It will be years before there are enough kids for another team. “I think that, as an Alaskan Native village boy, that we grow up just loving to play basketball,” he said.
“I just hope that they go out and play and enjoy themselves and take in the moment,” Marks said in Tanana, before this year’s state championship. “Because we’ve had great teams in the past that have all come up short. And even though we did, we still like, look back at it fondly and enjoy it.” This year, he wanted the team to be better prepared, so he stacked the season with more challenging games all over the state. They played at Port Alsworth on Lake Clark. They took a ferry across Prince William Sound to Cordova. They even flew out to Sand Point in the Aleutians.
Tanner Winters is a second-year elementary school teacher in Tanana. He also doubles as the high school basketball coach. This year, he helped his team top the podium in the regional championship in Fairbanks. This year, the whole town pulled together to support the team’s travel and to see for themselves a group of boys that rose to the challenge. Fans held fundraisers in Tanana and in Fairbanks to make the season possible. Many also traveled alongside the team to watch the games in person.
“When they were just little and, man, even in the middle of the night in the dark, they’d still be playing basketball — early in the morning. They’re playing basketball all summer, really,” said Chirstine Erhart.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former state Sen. John Coghill enters race for Alaska US House seat - Alaska Public MediaFormer state Sen. John Coghill has announced plans to run for Alaska’s U.S. House seat following the death of Republican Rep. Don Young.
Read more »
Hometown Alaska: Meeting vaccine hesitancy one client at a time - Alaska Public MediaCommunity Health Workers are relatively new to Alaska. They come from the communities they serve. They get specialized training in communication and health systems, and their mission is to help guide people toward the health care they need.
Read more »
Three Bears Alaska to build more stores - Alaska Public MediaAlaskans could start seeing more Three Bears stores around the state over the next few years, but so far they're not saying which communities they're looking to expand to.
Read more »
Alaska Supreme Court upholds district pairing Skagway and Haines with Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley - Alaska Public MediaSkagway filed suit last year, challenging the redistricting board’s legislative map pairing it with the Mendenhall Valley by arguing that it was more socio-economically aligned with downtown Juneau.
Read more »
An Alaska politics recap, from redistricting lawsuits to a Capitol COVID outbreak - Alaska Public MediaThe Alaska Supreme Court rules on redistricting, the House plans to take up the budget in a few days — and there's yet another conflict about mask-wearing at the state Capitol. Juneau reporter kitchenman breaks down the latest news in Alaska politics:
Read more »