The voice of Interior Alaska since 1903 FAIRBANKS — Age and depth seemed to favor the High School All-Stars against the AK Hoops on
Thursday night in the Lathrop High School gymnasium. However, the light roster and older AK Hoops advanced into the winner’s bracket of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Men’s and Women’s Basketball Classic Hoops for Scholars Tournament. AK Hoops held on for a 55-54 victory in the tournament’s opening game despite having seven players to their opponent’s 11 and a roster that includes players in their 20s and 30s compared the teenage All-Stars. “We haven’t played together there’s no chemistry,†Cofey said. “They know each other. They play with each other. They’re young kids and they ran us into the ground. “They’ve got a little more stamina than we do, and this is the first game and we let them stay in it.†Cofey formed the Hoops lineup last week, but the team had not practiced before the tournament. Two members, guards Mike Reed and Adam Lewis, came up from Anchorage and contributed 10 points each to the win.
The High School All-Stars carried players from four area schools, including three from Hutchison’s reigning Class 3A state championship squad. There were four players from Lathrop, whose head coach Milo Griffin guided the All-Stars, and two each from Eielson and Monroe Catholic.