When Fort Yukon sophomore forward Kandace Carroll scored 28 of her team's 30 first-half points and finished with 45 points, a small buzz went around Sullivan Arena as word of the fantastic scoring feat spread.
Carroll hit 17 of 29 field goals and was 11 of 19 from the free throw line. She also assisted on three of the six baskets scored by her teammates in the 58-26 win over Tuluksak in the Class 1A girls state basketball tournament. She also grabbed 13 rebounds and five steals.
But for Carroll, it seemed like just another day.
"I just got a lot of fastbreaks and a lot of free throws," said Carroll, who said she averaged about 30 points per game and wasn't sure if Thursday's point total was a season high.
Asked if she was used to such high-scoring performances Carroll answered in one simple word, saying "yeah" in a tone that indicated the 45-point outburst wasn't out of the ordinary.
For her, it wasn't.
Carroll scored 105 points in three games during a tournament at Su Valley early this year, and at the Golden Heart Conference tournament she scored 102 points in one day.
After falling to Minto in the opening game of the conference tournament, the Eagles had to come back to beat Huslia and Minto, and then topple Tanana twice to win the conference and make it to state.
The last three games were all played the same day, with Carroll compiling 102 points.
Fort Yukon began the season 2-6 before winning 10 of its last 13 games. Along the way, teams haven't been able to find a way to shut down Carroll.
"Not yet they haven't," said Jerry Carroll, Kandace's dad and the Fort Yukon coach. "She's been double- and triple-teamed all winter."
The Eagles only have six players, leaving the row of chairs on the bench next to their coaches empty when one is ready to check into the game. All six scored at least one basket Thursday.
At the Su Valley tournament, one player was unable to travel with the team so the Eagles went with just five players.
"They've been playing every minute of every game all winter," Jerry Carroll said. "They seem to handle it well."
Bringing the games home
The Bering Strait School District encompasses 80,000 square miles, covering 15 villages, including two on islands in the Bering Sea that are closer to Russia than mainland Alaska.
Many of the far-flung villages are accessible only by bush aircraft, making it difficult for many fans to travel to watch when their high school teams play regional and state tournaments.
Thankfully for them, the BSSD does live streaming video of regional and state events, using students to produce the broadcasts.
"There's no other way for a lot of parents and family in outlying areas to see the games," said Damon Hargraves, the distance learning and student broadcasting facilitator for the BSSD.
It even helps people watch from the other side of the world.
"We had the cousin of a wrestler, who had never seen his nephew wrestle before, watch the state tournament from Afghanistan," Hargraves said.
Hargraves leads a student broadcast team made up of mainly high school age students, but had kids as young as 12 working.
They have done state broadcasts of wrestling, volleyball, basketball and the Native Youth Olympics. The students do interviews with coaches and players, take video and do all the production work.
"Everybody does everything," Hargraves said. "No one person is in charge. Everyone cycles through all of the jobs."
Working on the production this year are Vincent Tomalonis, Robert Charles and Precious Lincoln of White Mountain, Michelle Ningeulwok and Renatla Olson of Golovin; Janice Homekingkeo and Ana Otton of Koyuk; and Wagner Iworrigan and Danny Pungowiyi of Sawonga.
"Janice wants to be the next Oprah, she's really excited to be doing interviews," Hargraves said.
To find the live streams of state basketball games, go to www.bssd.org.
Water warriors
The Skagway Panthers are happy to be back at the Class 2A girls tournament.
And even though they suffered a 53-38 bruising at the hands of Yakutat in the championship game last season, that didn't put a heavy burden on the team for its return trip to Sullivan.
In fact, the Panthers of Southeast Alaska are traveling light. Getting to the tournament required merely a seven-hour ferry ride to Juneau, followed by a brief flight to Anchorage -- short by Skagway standards.
"We take a lot of trips that are really long," said Kaylie O'Daniel, a junior guard. "We ride the ferry every time we make a road trip. When we went to Prince of Wales Island we spent two days on the ferry."
It's those longer trips that come with extra baggage -- in the form of air mattresses so the players can sleep as they sail.
Each air mattress fills most of a duffel bag, O'Daniel said. Add another duffel bag for uniforms and other clothes, and a backpack for everything else, and the Panthers get loaded down when they make long voyages.
The team made a 17-day road trip around Christmas break, first going north to Fairbanks for a tournament and then heading south to Yakutat for two conference games.
That's the same Yakutat that sent the Panthers packing in last year's state title game. In the rematches, Skagway won one game in overtime and the other by 13 points.
"It was payback," O'Daniel said.
Parental supervision
Moments after seeing his team fall 52-46 to Ninilchik in the opening round, Noorvik coach Jonathan Langner bent down to pick up his bag from behind the bench chairs. His intense look capturing his dismay at the tough defeat.
At the same time a couple snaked their way silently along the court, sneaking up on Langner. The man crept up until he stood inside Jonathan's personal space waiting for a minute as the coach stood up and took a brief second to figure out who the guy next to him was. When he figured it out, Jonathan broke into a large grin and offered a huge hug.
Dan and Laurie Lagner had flown from Minnesota without Jonathan's knowledge, surprising him with the courtside visit.
"It's the first time we've ever seen him coach," Dan said.
The parents, who live in Waverly, Minn., began planning their trip six months ago.
"Before we even knew they would be going to state," Laurie said.
If the Bears had not made it to state, they would've still flown to Anchorage and had Jonathan come down to meet them.
"I kind of thought something was going on," Jonathan said. "It was weird because they kept asking me what hotel I was staying in, but I thought it was a long way for them to come to watch basketball."
The younger Langner has lived in Noorvik for six years and is in his fourth season coaching the Bears. Noorvik finished sixth at state last year.
"He comes back every summer and we talk all the time because cell phone coverage is free out there," Dan said.
Noorvik was 17-3 during the regular season and won the Great Northwest Conference championship.
In the hallway outside the locker room father and son immediately started dissecting the team's play.
"We didn't play defense," Jonathan complained. "That's the first time this year we gave up 50 points."
Daily News sports editor Beth Bragg contributed to this report.
By RICHARD LARSON
rlarson@adn.com