by Tommy Wells
The Bethel Regional High School Warriors suffered a tough 85-68 loss to the Barrow Whalers on Saturday in the final game of a Western Conference twinbill in the Warrior Dome. Bethel Warrior star Lawrence Poe scored 22 points.
Barrow swept both games in the two-game series, winning in a close game, 78-73 on Friday.
Brendon Mattews provided Barrow with plenty of offensive fireworks in the first quarter of Saturday’s showdown. The Whalers’ standout buried five three-point shots in the first eight minutes of the contest and enabled Barrow to fight its way to an 18-17 lead.
Jarvis Evans spearheaded Bethel’s first-quarter efforts by throwing in six of his nine points. Donald Greydanus added three points, all from the free throw line. Daniel Chakuchin, Peter Crow and Poe all chipped in two points.
As a team, Bethel connected on five of their nine attempts from the free throw line in the first period.
The Warriors continued to stay close in the second. Bethel collected clutch three-point shots from Evans, Crow, Sinka Williams and Poe in the frame and pounded out 22 points.
Barrow held a slim 41-39 lead at the half.
Mattews and Esau Weyiouanna put Barrow on top for good with eye-catching efforts in the third. They both sank a pair of threes in the first eight minutes of the second half and powered the Whalers on a 26-12 run.
Mattews scored 27 of his game-high 31 points via nine three-point bombs.
Weyiouanna and teammate Jefferson Nobleza both tallied 14 in the contest. Kainoa Texiera had 15.
Poe helped Bethel finish strong. He scored nine points in the fourth and keyed a 17-point outburst by the BRHS Warriors.
Crow and Hayden Lieb also reached double figures offensively for Bethel, Crow netted 11 points in the contest, while Lieb added 10. Evans narrowly missed double-digits with nine.
Lieb carried Bethel on Friday’s game. The BRHS junior pitched in a team-leading 22 points.
Barrow kicked off their conference showdown on a high note. The Whalers picked up seven points from Texiera and a pair of three pointers from Mattews early and breezed to a 25-15 first-quarter advantage.
Lieb starred for Bethel in the opening frame. He scored eight of the Warriors’ first 15 points, including the first five of the contest.
Bethel roared back in the ensuing frame. Sparked by six points from Evans and five more from Poe, the Warriors pounded out a 21-14 run and pulled to within three, at 39-36, at the half.
Poe and Lieb continued to lead Bethel’s surge in the third. Poe pitched in six of his 13 points in the frame and helped spur a 21-20 burst that cut the Warriors’ deficit to 59-57 heading into the final stanza.
Lieb scored five points in the third, while teammates Evans and Max Black tossed in three-point shots.
Barrow regrouped in the fourth, posting a 19-16 run to cement the win.
Despite the loss, the Warriors benefitted from a balanced scoring attack. As a team, Bethel had four players score into double figures. Joining Lieb and Poe in double-digit scoring were Evans, who finished with 14, and Peter Crow, who contributed 12.
The Barrow girls completed the weekend sweep of conference games by grabbing a pair of wins over Bethel in Utqiagvik.
On Friday, Barrow eked out a 58-30 victory over Bethel. They finished off the weekend with a 41-27 victory on Saturday.
