East’s Braeden Speakman. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report

Just a freshman, Braeden Speakman played wise beyond his years Friday on the big stage of the Class 4A boys state championships.

Was he nervous? Oh, yeah. But encouraging words from coach Chuck Martin helped the underclassman settle down and gave him confidence to step up.

Speakman was among the leading scorers for the T-birds, who clobbered West 62-31 in the semifinals of the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska state tournament in front of a crowd of 3,500 at the Alaska Airlines Center.

“I walked into the building and there was a whole bunch of people and my heart started pumping,” Speakman said. “But I just played my game.”

The youngster earned crucial minutes early and scored five of his team’s first 20 points. His blocked shot led to a transition layup and his 3-pointer pushed the lead to 20-7 in the second quarter.

By comparison, West didn’t hit the 20-point mark until there were 24 seconds left in the third quarter. The Eagles were easily vanquished by an East team that produced its most complete effort in weeks.

ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
Class 4A Boys State Championships
Friday
Semifinals

West Valley 44, Monroe Catholic 41
East 62, West 31
Consolation
Juneau-Douglas 73, Colony 64
Dimond 58, ACS 30
Saturday
Fourth Place Game

9:00am (8) Juneau vs. (2) Dimond
Third Place Game
9:00am (7) Monroe vs. (4) West
Title Game
7:30pm (3) East vs. (1) West Valley

From the jump, the T-birds looked intent to crush the initiative of their crosstown rival in the battle of Rage City.

With the win, East (23-5) advanced to the state championship game for a state record 29th time dating back to 1960. The T-birds own a state record 17 state titles, including one by Martin in 2021.

“We’re trying to get that ring,” said senior Victor Meza. “This is another chapter. We gotta add another one to the (history) book.”

Meza and Speakman are part of a supporting cast that has played a starring role of late for the T-birds. In each of the last two playoff games, the East starters came out flat and needed to be pumped up by the bench.

That didn’t happen Friday. There was no letup, no breakdowns. Just a beatdown.

“That’s a tough team,” Speakman said of West. “We had to show them who the real T-birds were and the work we put in to get there.”

East’s Muhammed Sabally. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report

Credit the starters for setting the tone, primarily sophomore Muhammed Sabally, who came out with fire and desire. He scored the first five points to get the party started and later had a beautiful touch-pass assist to Akeem Sulaiman in the second quarter for a layup.

Nine East players scored, including seven in the first half. Sabally netted nine points while another key reserve, sophomore Jal Tharjiath, had nine points as well, including a 3-pointer in the second quarter and an and-1 in the fourth quarter.

Speakman, Meza and Deshawn Rushmeyer each had eight points on a night when the T-birds shot 51% from the floor and outscored West 18-3 from 3-point range.

Not only was Speakman effective on offense, he shadowed all-star Des’ Laone Cook on defense and helped hold the hard-to-guard all-star scoreless.

He may have been nervous early, but Speakman looked like a cool customer later when he slipped on the floor but maintained his dribble to avoid a turnover.

Everything was working for East. Meanwhile, West couldn’t buy a bucket.

The Eagles didn’t convert a field goal in the first quarter, missed 30 of 40 shots and flubbed a dunk attempt in the late stages. The only real highlight was a nice reverse layup by Willie Zamora, who minutes later drained a 3-pointer.

West’s Willie Zamora. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report

East used a 20-0 run over the second and third quarters to put this one to bed. Xyo Velez provided bookends to the run, starting it with a pair of free throws and finishing it with a floater in the key as East’s cushion swelled to 44-15.

The T-birds’ largest lead was 37 points and nearly triggered a 40-point mercy rule with a running clock.

Up until Friday, East looked like a completely different team. It got taken behind the shed in the Cook Inlet Conference Championships title game against Dimond two weeks ago and then laid an egg in the first half of its quarterfinal game at state against ACS two days ago.

Since then, though, the T-birds have outscored opponents 89-36 over the last six quarters.

“We knew we had to change something if we wanted to make it,” Speakman said.

East’s Deshawn Rushmeyer. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report

He pointed to that Dimond loss as a turning point. Not only did it wake up the sleepwalking T-birds but it also opened opportunities for bench guys like Speakman, Meza, Tharjiath, LaRon Roberts and Hebert Cooper.

They got a taste of playoff basketball and it served them well in Friday’s semifinals.

“That gave us confidence, a lot of it, too,” Speakman said. “We were sitting on the bench watching them play (against Dimond) and were like, ‘Dang, we need to get back in the gym and actually put in work, work, work.”

It’s not unusual to see freshmen play well at the state tournament, but it is a rarity at East. However, after the T-birds lost all five starters from last year’s state runner-up squad, a door opened for newcomers and Speakman kicked it in.

“Coach, he’s helped me a whole lot. A lot, lot. We be in the gym shooting, shooting, shooting,” Speakman said of Martin. “He tells me I can be a big part of this team and how I could really do stuff for the team. I will do anything to make the team better.”

Additional Article Sponsors:
Midas Alaska, RE/MAX Dynamic Properties Kevin Taylor, R&M Consultants, Inc., Alaska Oil and Gas Association, BOSCO's, Continental Auto Group, Invisalign-Ben Ward, Kathleen Navarre
School Boosters:
R&M Consultants, Inc., Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Loren Kroon, Alice & Gunnar Knapp, The Conway Family, Don Clary & Judy Besh, Dr. Justin Libby, DDS, Kathleen Navarre, Jim Hajdukovich, Residential Mortgage, Aspen Endodontics, RE/MAX Dynamic Properties, Kevin Taylor, Zareena and Allen Clendaniel, Rick Mystrom, Mark Silverman, Burgerfi, Moose's Tooth, Bear Tooth and Broken Tooth Brewing, Midas Alaska, BOSCO's, Replacement Glass, Sarah & A.J. Schirack, Harlow Robinson, Team Heat, Todd Whited, Mark and Jamie Johnson, Firetap, Coho Financial Group, R&M Consultants, Inc., Invisalign-Ben Ward, Advanced Diagnostics, INC, Jason & Shannon Metrokin