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The KUCB Newsroom provides newscasts Monday through Thursday at noon and 5 PM on KUCB Radio. You can find many of our local news stories here.

As Raiders Depart For Seward Invitational, Basketball Coaches Call For Continued Hard Work

Chrissy Roes/KUCB

Unalaska's basketball teams leave Wednesday for the Seward Invitational, where they'll play Hutchison, Eielson, and Seward.

Coming off two tough loses to King Cove, Coach Casey Clausius said he wants the girls' team (1-6) to continue to work hard.

"Our main focus is getting ready for regions, and our region has changed with six teams," he said. "We're looking at trying to compete to get back to state. So I told the girls: 'Don't be focused on our record right now. Be worrying about battling. Be worried about working hard and trying to improve yourself.'"

The Raiders played a number of the teams they'll face in Seward at the Delta Dean Cummings tournament earlier this month.

Clausius said that means they know what they need to do to be successful.

"Trying to move the ball on offense. Playing tough defense man-to-man. Seeing if we complete one possession at a time with them," he said. "I give Hutchison credit. They won the Delta tournament and they're a good team. We're looking at trying to worry about one possession, and hopefully we can be right there at the end."

Meanwhile, the Raider boys (3-2) are excited to get a second crack at Seward, who beat them earlier this month, 75-69.

"They stole one from us in Delta and left a pretty bad taste in our mouths, so we're looking to put together a whole game," said boys' Coach Riley Spetz. "We played three quarters that were pretty good, other than a few mistakes. But there's definitely a lot of room for growth. We look forward to the chance to play them again, just as they probably look forward to the chance to play us again."

To win, Spetz said the boys will need to focus on valuing the ball and rebounding.

"We're in a good spot as far as kids being in shape," he said. "We just have to find a way to mix our style of play with the team that we have. Once it all comes together, I think it will be a good thing. We haven't figured it out yet, but we're working towards that."

KUCB will broadcast all of the Raider games live on 89.7 FM. 

The tournament starts Thursday against Hutchison. The girls play first at 3 p.m., followed by the boys at 4:30 p.m. On Friday, the girls take on Eielson at 3 p.m., followed by the boys at 4:30 p.m. Finally, on Saturday, the girls play Seward at 2 p.m., followed by the boys at 3:30 p.m.

You can find more information and the full schedule at KUCB's Facebook page. 

Zoë Sobel reported for KUCB from 2016 until 2019. She returned to KUCB after a year living in Nepal and Malaysia as a Luce Scholar. She then returned to KUCB as a ProPublica reporter August of 2020 through August of 2021.
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