The Wrangell High School gym was packed with Wolves and Petersburg Vikings fans for Wrangell’s homecoming weekend games on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 16-17, but the hometown boys suffered two losses for the second weekend in a row.

Friday’s game started with two free throws by Everett Meissner before the Vikings reciprocated with a three-pointer by Mason Knudsen and a layup from Brayden Tucker. Wrangell scored five more points in the first quarter — three from Aadyn Gillen and two from Jackson Powers — before the quarter ended with Petersburg ahead 8-7.

The Vikings continued to push hard in the second quarter, earning 12 points and holding the Wolves to a single layup by Michael Cook.

Meissner started the second half with a layup, with the assist from Powers, but Wrangell’s lack of rebounding helped Petersburg build up their lead.

Cook tried to build some momentum with a three, along with a layup from William Massin, but that’s all that could be said for Wrangell’s scoring in the third quarter.

Wrangell was behind 16-37 at the start of the final quarter of the night. Cook added five points while Meissner and Ben Houser each scored two points, but the Wolves didn’t have enough to stop the power of the Vikings, losing 25-51.

Saturday night started out less promising as Wrangell racked up the fouls and half of the Vikings’ points came from free throws. However, the Wolves did show some highlights; Michael Cook with a fast break for two and Everett Meissner with some good footwork in the paint to earn another basket for the Wolves.

Wrangell started to pick it up and came out strong in the second quarter with a deep three from Aadyn Gillen and an “one and one” from Jackson Powers. Meissner and Cook again scored points for the Wolves, along with sophomore Kai Wigg. Wrangell was behind 21-29 at the half — a Petersburg lead but less of a distance in scores than the night before.

The boys game plan seemed to fall apart after halftime for the second week in a row, and while the Vikings were scoring basket after basket, Wrangell only made two shots (three points from Gillen and two from Meissner).

The final quarter of the Saturday’s game was even more lopsided than Friday, with Meissner, Cook and Houser all fouling out and the team collecting 14 fouls. It was pretty obvious the Wolves were done for.

The Wolves earned a few more points — a layup from Powers, two from Houser and a three-pointer from Carter Howell — before they went down by a final score of 32-60.

Wrangell will face the Metlakatla Chiefs on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23-24, for the first away games of the season. Both teams that Wrangell has played so far this season — Haines and Petersburg — have won against Chiefs.