The Alaska Airlines Classic is always one of the top regular-season tournaments in the state. This year it is one of the best in the nation.
Two-time defending Class 7A Hoover of Alabama, with a 24-0 record, is the fourth-ranked team in the country, according to MaxPreps. The Buccaneers headline a field that also includes California’s Heritage Christian (20-2), Georgia’s Columbia High School (14-2), two-time defending Alaska state champion East, No. 4-ranked Colony, No. 5 West Anchorage, No. 8 Service and Kayhi, which at 8-3 is ranked ninth in the latest Alaska Sports Report coaches poll.
Hoover features one of the top players in the country in Dwayne Brown, who is the reigning Mr. Basketball in Alabama and a four-star prospect that has signed to play at the University of Tennessee. At least three other players in the tournament are signed to play with Division I colleges.
“It is absolutely exciting that we get to see this level of athlete in person,” Kayhi coach Eric Stockhausen said. “You’ve got the player of the year in Alabama, another guy going to UAB. And you have a California team that was all sophomores when we saw them two years ago, and they are all seniors now. It’s going to be great just to watch these games. It is like going to a college game in some ways.”
“It is kind of like a fantasy camp against Hall of Famers,” Stockhausen added. “If I get to take pitches from Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens, even if I don’t touch that ball, that experience will be something to remember.”
The last time the Kayhi boys basketball team played in the Alaska Airlines Classic, the Kings lost their opening game of the tournament 66-16 to California’s Heritage Christian, which looks to be even better now. The Kings bounced back from that crushing defeat to lose a tight 63-60 decision to Arizona’s Higley High School before beating Metlakatla in the seventh-place game.
“When we played Heritage a couple years ago, I think we were in complete shock and awe of the athleticism, the size, the ability, and we put up 16 points,” Stockhausen said. “I’m not sure we got everything out of that game that we could’ve.”
On paper, the Kings will be underdogs against any team they might play in Anchorage, but after already overachieving with an 8-3 early-season mark, Kayhi hopes to pull off at least one upset.
“We just want to focus on the things we can control,” Stockhausen said. “Anything that we can do that works against these teams will work against anybody we play. If it doesn’t work, we can see how we have to get better and improve for the teams in our state we have to play. We are going to play the game, not the opponent.”
Kayhi opens play against the tournament hosts, West Anchorage, at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The contest, which follows immediately after the Kayhi girls play West at 11:15 a.m. in their final game of the girls Alaska Airlines Classic. Both of those games will be held in front of student assemblies at West.
“We are sitting in a really good place at 8-3. There is no game on paper that we are supposed to win here, but that’s OK,” Stockhausen said. “We play in front of the student body (Thursday). It will be a big crowd. Most people don’t get to experience this. There are going to be some great memories made here, even if the results aren’t great.”
The West Anchorage boys won the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic last year and the Eagles return Clarke tournament MVP Buob Marial, who is a Player of the Year candidate in Alaska this year.
“He is a first-team All-State player, that we know from AAU. A great athlete and crafty. He is obviously fantastic,” Stockhausen said. “They have a real skilled shooter who used to be at Chugiak and an up-and-coming young guy (sophomore Carmelo Mason) who is a really skilled basketball player. They are going to play very fast, very aggressively and trap all over the place. It is great for us to go against that type of style.”
After placing fourth in Dimond’s Alaska Prep Shootout with a solid victory over Bartlett, Kayhi had a week off before hitting the road again for the Alaska Airlines Classic.
“We played probably our best half, if not our best game, against Bartlett. When you are playing well you don’t want to take a break,” Stockhausen said. “But it was great because we were exhausted and we had finals. But when you are playing well, you want to go right back to it.”
Kayhi’s arrival home from that tournament was delayed two days due to high winds, prompting the team to make sure it arrived in Anchorage in plenty of time for this tournament as they flew in Tuesday night.
“One year coming up here we got to the airport at 3:15 and didn’t arrive until 4 a.m., then had to play less than 12 hours later,” Stockhausen said.
This is the final road trIp of the season for Kayhi before the state tournament, as the Kings play five series at home to end the regular season and then host the Region V tournament.
“I love my kids, they are great to travel with. That is all we’ve done,” Stockhausen said. “I told them, I’m a little sad in a way that we aren’t going to get to travel anymore because you are a job to be around. They really are. But that doesn’t stop me from coaching them to be their best.”