Sports

On Sunday, the Juneau Skating Club performed its annual holiday skating recital at Treadwell Ice Arena. JSC skaters produced solo performances, teamed up in pairs and skated in groups during the hour-long show that featured 18 routines.

All photos by Steve Quinn.

It’s Eaglecrest Ski Area versus Mount Bohemia, Michigan in the Final 4 of the Ski Town Throwdown.

Voting is Monday and Tuesday for the two small mountains, which beat a number of large, well-known resorts in their region to get to the Final 4 of Powder Magazine’s March Madness-style popularity contest.

Juneau’s city-owned ski area became the Great White North champion after getting more votes in various rounds than four major British Columbia resorts; while Mount Bohemia – in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — just knocked out Mad River Glen, Vermont to become the Big East champion, previously taking down other major eastern ski resorts in the first rounds.

You can vote once each day, until 11 p.m. Tuesday on Powder Magazine’s Facebook page.

Georgetown University took home the Great Alaska Shootout crown, beating the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team 92-78 in the championship game.

After the game, both coaches had similar ideas on the deciding factor of the tournament.

“As Mike Tyson said, ‘Everyone has a game plan until the first hit,” Georgetown head coach Jim Lewis said. “And you have to be able to be flexible and adjust on the fly, if you will.”

Though UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy spoke to the same general topic, his outlook differed.

“To play a team like Georgetown that’s as athletic as they are, there’s no way we can simulate that in practice; or, there’s no way you can game plan for a team that is that athletic,” McCarthy said. “I mean, at our level we just don’t see teams like that – ever.”

In the Seawolves’ first game of the tournament, they were able to overcome a 14-point halftime deficit against UC Riverside and win in a double overtime thriller, but Georgetown’s 12-point lead going into the half was too much for UAA to overcome.

Coach McCarthy said after Tuesday’s game, the Seawolves were mentally exhausted.

“Your team has a tank of emotion and once it’s empty you can’t refill it, and I think that we used up a lot of that emotion – I mean, a double overtime game where it’s just I think emotionally just absolutely drains you,” he said.

Senior forward Kylie Burns said despite the championship loss, there are some things the team can learn from and bring into the regular season.

“Mental toughness, just because you’re down, doesn’t mean you can’t ever come back,” she said. “Energy is a huge thing, too, because that can get you going, and it’s not even a basketball skill.”

UC Riverside took third place, beating Nicholls State 74-64.

The men’s tournament continues through Saturday.

On Sunday, the Juneau Adult Hockey Association completed two weeks worth of playoffs, crowning the last of five tier champions at Treadwell Ice Arena. Island Pub and Alaska Airlines captured Tier A and Tier B titles on Friday. In the Women’s Tier the Yukon Pass opened three Sunday games by defeating the Shamrocks, 2-1. The Tigers claimed the C Tier with a 4-3 overtime victory over Funter Bay. Good Hardware defeated Lemon Creek, 3-0, in the 40-and-over Tier.

All photos by Steve Quinn.

Voting in the Elite 8 Ski Town Throwdown competition ended at 11 p.m. Thursday and Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area beat Revelstoke Mountain Resort by 73 votes.

Eaglecrest had 5,609 votes and Revelstoke had 5,536 votes.

Eaglecrest is now the Great White North champion and goes on to the Final Four.

Eaglecrest on Tuesday beat Red Mountain Ski Resort by more than 200 votes in the Sweet 16 round of Powder Magazine contest.  In the first two rounds, Eaglecrest knocked out two other large British Columbia ski resorts, Whistler/Blackcomb and Mt. Washington.

Eaglecrest Marketing Director Jeffra Clough says the Powder Magazine contest has two more rounds.

“Voting for the Final 4 round will be December 2nd and 3rd and Eaglecrest will be up against the Big East champion, which will be either Mt. Bohemia, Michigan, or Mad River Glen, Vermont,” Clough says.

Juneau’s Eaglecrest is the Cinderella story in this year’s Powder Magazine Ski Town Throw Down.

That’s according to magazine editors John Davies and John Stifter, as they watched the small ski area amass enough votes to beat Whistler/Blackcomb and Mount Washington resorts in the first two rounds of the competition.

Eaglecrest is now in the Sweet 16 against another British Columbia resort, Red Mountain in Rossland.

While Red Mountain calls itself “the last great, unspoiled resort,” Eaglecrest is even less spoiled.  It’s not a destination resort, but a city-owned ski area with no lift lines and a small mountain feel. Eaglecrest calls itself Alaska’s best-kept secret.

Ski Town Throwdown is patterned after the March Madness basketball championship with six rounds.  The Throwdown began with 64 U.S. and Canada ski areas, 16 in each of four geographic regions.

If Eaglecrest defeats Red Mountain, it will be in the Elite 8 competition.

Voting is Monday and Tuesday on Powder Magazine’s Facebook page.  You can vote once each day.

Beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Eaglecrest will hold a Rock the Vote party at Juneau’s Red Dog Saloon, with Wi-Fi for voting, regular vote updates and, of course, the final count at 11 p.m., Alaska time.