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Dillingham's Smeaton heats up for Lady Ice

July 7th 3:06 pm | Van Williams Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

After holding its own against the best of the Pacific Northwest, the Alaska Lady Ice elite basketball team is ready to take on the nation.

The travel team - which features most of the top Class 3A players from the state, hailing from Barrow, Bethel, Dillingham, Nome and Valdez - will represent the 907 at the National AAU Supershowcase in Florida. The tournament will take place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.

The Lady Ice prepared for the big stage with a month-long road trip through Washington, where they won 20 of 30 games at various tournaments. Highlights included a runner-up finish at the Gonzaga Shootout Elite Camp and a second-place pool play finish at the Liberty Lake Elite Shootout.

Now they will test themselves against the top teams in the country.

"We are ready for this tournament," said Lady Ice coach Doug Boyer of Bethel. "The girls have played the best of the best in the Pacific Northwest with a lot of heart and pride. It's time for the girls to expand their horizon and play at the next level."

The National AAU Supershowcase features 100 teams, with pool play breaking down into four groups of 25. The first three games for the Lady Ice will come against teams from Florida, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

But Boyer ain't scared.

"Our team is no different than these teams," he said. "Five girls on the court at a time and the ball goes through the hoop.

"Also our team is very similar as 80 percent of the girls were recruited for colleges on this trip, and these teams will have the same thing. It will make for some great basketball."

So far the Alaska players have visited college campuses at Gonzaga University, Whitworth University, Spokane Community College, Walla Walla College, Whitman College and Walla Walla Community College.

The Lady Ice team incudes players like Lynette Hepa and Hilary Lowery of Barrow, Kristin Smeaton of Dillingham, Kira Polk, Christina McElwee and Mary Dyment of Bethel, Caitlin Auble of Valdez and Devynn Johnson of Nome.

Game recaps

The Lady Ice fell to Wapato of Yakima, Wash., during the championship game of the Liberty Lake Elite Tournament. The girls were down by four points and then had to foul; Wapato won by 9 points. "It was a great tournament for the girls as they took second place and beat the teams that beat them in pool play," Boyer said.

Scoring:

Mary Dyment - 5 points

Kira Polk - 5 points

Lynette Hepa - 14 points

Devynn Johnson - 2 points

Kristin Smeaton - 8 points

The Lady Ice won their finals game of the winners bracket vs. Wapato. Earlier in pool play, Wapato won by 25 points, but today the Lady Ice beat Wapato 56-51.

Scoring:

Mary Dyment - 4 points

Kira Polk - 18 points

Lynette Hepa - 7 points

Devynn Johnson - 5 points

Kristin Smeaton - 20 points

Caitlin Auble - 2 points

The Lady Ice won their semifinal game vs. Cheney, Wash., by a score of 49-33. The girls played great defense to hold a 28-4 half time score.

Scoring:

Mary Dyment 8 points

Kira Polk 9 points

Devynn Johnson 2 points

Lynette Hepa 4 points

Caitlin Auble 11 points

Kristin Smeaton 13 points

Christina McElwee 2 points

In the first round the Lady Ice took on Toppenish of Yakima, Wash., which is a large high school with just under 1,000 students. The girls started off slow, but picked up the pace to be victorious 37-19. The girls only allowed 11 points in the last 30 minutes.

Scoring:

Lynette Hepa - 15 points ( 7-9 from the FT)

Kira Polk - 2 points

Devynn Johnson - 6 points

Mary Dyment - 2 points

Caitlin Auble - 3 points

Kristin Smeaton - 5 points

Hilary Lowery - 2 points

Christina McElwee - 2 points

The Lady Ice beat Cranbrook High School 54-9. Cranbrook is located in Vancouver, British Columbia is a high school of just over 1,000 students.

Scoring:

Mary Dyment - 6 points

Kira Polk - 7 points

Devynn Johnson - 6 points

Lynette Hepa - 6 points

Caitlin Auble - 7 points

Kristin Smeaton - 5 points

Christina McElwee - 6 points

Hilary Lowery - 9 points

Rachelle Johns - 3 points

Alaska beat Lapwai High School 46-28. Lapwai has won the Idaho state championship three times in the last four years and the year they lost it, it was on a buzzer beater by 1.

Scoring:

Mary Dyment - 3 points

Devynn Johnson - 4 points

Lynette Hepa - 9 points

Kristin Smeaton - 10 points

Caitlin Auble - 10 points

Kira Polk - 10 points

In Walla Walla, Wash., the girls played 4A powerhouse, Walla Walla High School with a 30 second shot clock. "Both teams played very well," Boyer said. But the Lady Ice suffered a heartbreaking 61-60 loss in OT. "The girls played very fast and tough defense. We did have a huge breakthrough in team play - the girls all were boxing out and getting the ball up the court. It was an exciting and fun game to watch."

Scoring:

Mary Dyment - 2 points

Devynn Johnson - 6 points

Lynette Hepa - 10 points

Caitlyn Auble - 7 points

Kira Polk - 20 points

Kristin Smeaton - 13 points

Hilary Lowery - 4 points

Dylan Johnson - 2 points

Also, the girls ended up winning by 5 points against Desales High School, a private Catholic Prep school in Walla Walla. Desales opened the game with an 11-0 run, thanks to a run of 3s. But the Lady Ice fought back and had a two-point lead at halftime. Desales went on a run and was leading by seven points. With two minutes left in the game, Kira Polk hit an NBA 3-pointer to tie the game. Then the girls hit free throws to seal the win.

 

Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@alaskanewspapers.com

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