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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.

Raiders Win 36-19 In Game Honoring Late Teammate Alexis Magalong

Hope McKenney/KUCB

Over the weekend, the Unalaska girls' basketball team played their first game since teammate Alexis Magalongdied earlier this month. The Raiders beat the King Cove Rookies 36-19 on Friday. 

The game started with a moment of silence to honor Magalong, as well as Trey Henning – a 2017 graduate of Unalaska's high school – who died last week.

The team also wore warm-up shirts with a raider on the front and Magalong's name and number on the back.

Head basketball coach Riley Spetz said the Rookies agreed to let Unalaska win the tip off, and that Unalaska took a 10 second violation to honor Magalong, who wore jersey number 10 and played point guard.  

"It's been a really hard month," said Spetz after Friday's game. "The kids are some of the strongest kids I've ever met – to battle this the way that they did and to carry themselves the way that the do. My heart goes out the Magalong family and the Henning family. Alexis was a pleasure to coach and a great teammate for every girl on the team. It definitely stings, but it feels good to come out on a night like tonight and honor her in that way."

Hope McKenney/KUCB
The Unalaska Raiders beat the King Cove Rookies 36-19 on Friday.

Kayla Villamor, Mae Hiceta, and Alleri Tungul were top scorers. Spetz said the girls played hard in what was an emotional game.

"It was a hard day," said Spetz. "But I'd say we did a really good job to try to remember somebody who was really important to a lot of people in this town."

The Raiders girls also won Saturday morning's game against King Cove, 34-9. The games marked the last home series of the season.

Grief counseling and mental health resources are available through the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA). Unalaskans can call APIA's help line at 359-2743 to speak with a provider over the phone or make a face-to-face appointment.

Hope McKenney is a public radio news director, reporter, producer and host based in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.
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