Family and friends crowded the stands of the Unalaska High School gym last Wednesday to cheer on players on both sides of the court – the visiting St. Paul Sea Parrots versus the home team, Unalaska Raiders. The junior high teams played five games in a three-day event that hasn't happened in over a decade.
Seven players from St. Paul flew in on a nine-seater plane only half an hour before their first game, but they quickly hit the court eager to play. Unalaska City School District Activities Director Kent Russel said the game was a last-minute decision.
“So, Tuesday night they were like, ‘We’re coming tomorrow,’ and then I was like, ‘Alright!’” said Russell, “And then we figured it out. Scrambled and got some refs…. And we’re here and we’re playing.”
The St. Paul players were supposed to go to Dillingham for their Super Cub basketball tournament, but the flight to Anchorage was canceled. The team wouldn’t make the tournament in time, so they pivoted. After St. Paul’s superintendent made a few calls, they decided to come to Unalaska.
Russell said he hasn’t seen a home game like this in his 13 years in Unalaska and has heard a similar story from others.
“I talked to a couple people, they don’t remember. My wife grew up here, she never played against anybody in Jr. High,” said Russell, “and so I’m not saying there hasn’t ever been one, but there hasn’t been one in a while.”
These games are a big opportunity for both teams to play against someone new. Both island towns are remote. St. Paul is over 240 miles north of the Aleutian Islands. Ethan Candyfire is the coach for the St. Paul team, and said there aren’t many young players back home.
“So back on St. Paul, we have to play against our parents or community members, past players, who play against our middle school team,” said Candyfire. “We haven’t had a high school team there in a few years, so we’ve been playing with our middle schoolers.”
Sixth grader Luula Candyfire has been playing basketball her whole life, and never played against people her age outside of St. Paul.
“It’s pretty amazing, it’s different, but I like it a lot,” she said.
Both teams said that these games were an opportunity to strengthen relationships between their communities, while the middle schoolers honed their skills on the court.
