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Bethel Warrior Basketball Teams Will Compete For Fourth Place In The State Championship

The Bethel girls and boys team will compete Saturday for fourth place in the state basketball championships at the Wells Fargo Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage. 

The Lady Warriors will play against Grace Christian at 8 a.m. Saturday. The Bethel team won their consolation match against Galena 58 to 34 on Friday, securing their place in the next round.

The Warrior Boys also won their consolation match on Friday, defeating Delta Junction 57 to 44. The Warriors will play for fourth place against Anchorage Christian at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Bethel's hopes for a 3A state championship basketball trophy didn't last through the first day on Thursday, but both the Warrior boys and girls games were hard fought.

The Bethel Warrior boys gave it their all Thursday night, but the Grace Christian Grizzlies won it 47 to 28.  Bethel Coach Dave Cronk says that the team gave it a good effort.

"We got out-rebounded today about 2 to 1, so that doesn't help. They get the ball back for some extra shots,” said Cronk. “Yeah, they fight hard. They never quit. Sometime you just have tough ones like that."

Early in the game, every time the Warriors rushed the basket the Grizzlies would foul them, so most of the early points for the Warriors came from the foul line.

"We drew some fouls the first quarter. Kind of got to the line and made only half our free throws,” said Cronk. “That didn't help a whole lot, but they hit some shots tonight. Out-rebounded us. That's the way it goes.”

The Player of the Game for the Bethel Warrior boys was Clevon Constantine.  

Later that evening, it was the Bethel Warrior girls' turn to take the court against the Barrow Whalers, a tough team. Courtney Williams was named Player of the Game. She says her teammates came out tough as well.

The girls' game was tight and fast. At one point Barrow and Bethel were tied, then it was back and forth quickly with neither team scoring. Then the momentum shifted.

Bethel Warrior girls basketball coach Meghan Crow says that there was nothing to be ashamed of and that Barrow is a great team. To be close is doing something, and the Barrow Whalers worked hard for their 50 to 41 win over the Bethel Lady Warriors.