Anchorage basketball player JT Thor was selected as our Alaska Athlete of the Week after helping South Sudan earn the ultimate moral victory, taking Team USA to the limit in a 101-100 in a pre-Olympics exhibition game in London.
Thor scored 14 points and drained a corner 3 over LeBron James that put gave the South Sudanese a stunning 100-99 lead with 20 seconds left.
Team USA ended up winning the game, but South Sudan won the moment and Thor stole the show.
The former West Anchorage basketball player made 3-of-6 field goals and 7-of-9 free throws, matching Anthony Davis of the Lakers for game-high honors in attempts and makes at the foul line.
Thor and the South Sudan squad begin Olympic play on Sunday, July 28th against Puerto Rico.
Also receiving votes:
- Jenna DiFolco – The Fairbanks runner claimed the women’s champion at the Crow Pass Crossing footrace on Saturday, finishing over 14 minutes ahead of the next female.
- Galen Hecht – The 29-year-old Anchorage runner won the Vermont 100 Endurance Race 100K in record time on Saturday. He completed the course in 9:25.33 to shave more than 10 minutes off the course record.
- Daishen Nix – The point guard out of Anchorage averaged 17 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists in four games for the Minnesota Timberwolves at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
- Service Legion pitchers – Andrew Hickman, Kegan Lennox, Trey Maltby combined for a no-hitter in a 5-0 win over Ketchikan at Kosinski Fields.
- Denali Strabel – The Anchorage runner broke a 31-year-old record in winning the Hope & Sunrise Wagon Trail Run on Sunday. Strabel ran the 5-kilometer hilly road and trail course in 19 minutes, 56 seconds.
- Isaac Updike – The 32-year-old pro runner from Ketchikan closed fast in the steeplechase a the Sound Running’s 2024 Sunset Tour to blow away the field, clock a season’s-best 8 minutes, 19.11 seconds and win by 2.57 seconds.
- West Legion pitchers – Jack Hazlewood and Liam Gunn combined to pitch a no-hitter for the Eagles in a 7-1 victory over Dimond at Kosinski Fields, the program’s first true Legion no-no in more than a decade.
Have a candidate in mind? Email us your nomination: info@alaskasportshall.org
