麻豆社区

FAIRBANKS 鈥� With less than one second left on the clock, Team Yukon forward Chris Carino took an inbound pass and threw up a desperation shot.

It sailed wide of the rim, and cued the celebration for Alaska始s junior men始s basketball team.

The rematch of the 2012 Arctic Winter Games gold-medal final was a thriller that ultimately saw a reversal in fortunes for the Alaskan men, thanks to some late-game heroics by wingman Colin Corsetti.

With time winding down on the clock Monday afternoon, the 18-year-old from Unalakleet sank a jump shot from just inside the arc to give his team a 79-78 lead with 0.9 seconds left in the game.

Corsetti始s game-winning jumper over two Yukon defenders went against his coach始s orders, he admitted following the win.

"In the huddle, he specifically said 驶I don始t want a 19-foot jump shot,始鈥� Corsetti explained. "KJ (Mader), our big man, ended up with the ball 鈥� I始m not sure how 鈥� and I was at the top of the key. He saw me wide open, so he kicked it and I was out behind the three. In my head, I heard the coach say 驶No 19-foot jump shots.始 So I glanced at the clock, saw three seconds and just one dribbled it and then pulled up. Hopefully I was within 19 feet.鈥�

Corsetti said it was satisfying to extract some revenge from Alaska始s 2012 championship loss to the Yukon, but acknowledged the big games are yet to come.

"They始re a pretty good team,鈥� he said of their Canadian rivals. "They play hard and they始ll compete with anybody who will show up on the floor against them. We knew it would be a good starting point 鈥� win or lose 鈥� to see where we始re at. We ended up with the win, but they始re going to come back and we始ll maybe match up with them again.鈥�

The Yukon simply did not have enough time to put together any heroics of their own, Carino said.

"I kind of caught the ball and didn始t see the rim, didn始t notice how far I was from the basket,鈥� the 17-year-old Yukon co-captain said of his last-ditch attempt. "It was just a thrown-up shot.鈥�

Carino scored 20 points in the win, behind RJ Siosan始s team-leading 24. He hopes to get another crack at the Americans later in the tournament.

"I definitely think it will be Alaska and Yukon in the finals,鈥� he said. "It始s like a rematch from last Arctics. They始re a beatable team for sure, because they only won by one point. But we just have to go hard and play intense like (coach) Tim (Brady) says.鈥�

Brady said his team is the youngest in the tournament by far, but they played like grizzled veterans for most of the contest.

"The day belonged to Alaska, but I was really proud of our guys,鈥� he said. "They played wire to wire. They played a really poised, intense, aggressive game. That was our game plan.鈥�

The majority of the game saw Brady employ an all-Filipino lineup against the Alaskans.

"They始re the five best players we have, and that始s why they start,鈥� the coach said. "It始s great to have them.鈥�

Carino and Siosan teamed up with Bryan Hermosa, Ian New and Josh Tobias to push the pace, drawing their share of trips to the foul line with hard-charging layups.

"We始ve been playing with each other for a while, and we definitely know each other始s game,鈥� Carino said. "Back in the Philippines, we始d play streetball and stuff. We始ve also learned how to play with the other guys, so it始s definitely a good experience for our whole team.鈥�

Siosan, 16, is playing in his first Arctic Winter Games after failing to make the squad two years ago.

"I worked hard in practice and wanted to get better every day,鈥� he said of the memory. "It始s been an honour that I made the team. I just want to represent my team, my country, my territory and my family.鈥�

The boys evened their record to 1-1 late Monday night with a 75-73 victory over Team Nunavut.

In other action yesterday, the Yukon始s junior women始s team dropped their opening game to Nunavut, 50-33.